4 



* 



TRAVELS 



IN THE 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA, 



IN THE YEARS 1822 AND 1823. 



G. MOLLIEN 



TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH. 



LONDON : 




PRINTED FOR C. KNIGHT, PALL-MALL EAST. 
1824. 




G< Schulze, P. inter, 13, Poland Street. 



CONTENTS. 



Pages. 

Chapter I. — Departure from France —The Azores — Coasts 
of the United States — Norfolk — Washington—New Car- 
thagena — Departure for Bogota — Turbaco — Barranca — 
Route from Carthagena to the Magdalena . 1 

Chap. II. — Departure from Barranca— Village ofTeneriffe — 
Sembrano— Isle San Pedro — Pinto— Santa Anna — Mon- 
pox — The Governor of Monpox — Margarita — Guamo- 
Penon — Banko — Sierra-Ocana — Regidor — Rio-Viejo — 
Morales — Vadillo— The inhabitants of the Magdalena 
— Boca Rosario — San Pablo — The point of Barbacoa — 
Garapata — Angustura — Nare 22 

Chap. III.— Branch of the Magdalena— The Miel— Rio Ne- 
gro — Guarumo — ThePromontory of Garderia — The Rocks 
of Perico — Honda — Description of the Magdalena. -» . 46 

Chap. IV. — Route from Honda to Bogota — Rio Seco — Ven- 
ta Grande — Mountain of Sarjento — Valley of Guaduas — 
Billeta — Facatativia — Description of the Plain of Bogota 
— Fall of Tequendama — Natural Bridge of Pandi.... 57 

Chap. V. — Journey into the province of Socorro, situated to 

the north of Santa-Fe de Bogota 74 

Chap. VI.— Situation of the Country from 1498to 1781.— The 
ancient inhabitants — Their customs — Their manners — 
Commercial, religious and military conquests — Quesada 
— Decrease of the Indian population — Negroes — Their ^ 
condition — Mixture of the races — Ports — Churches — Vil- 
lages — Towns — Mines — Colonial agriculture — European' 
agriculture — Industry — Spanish Government — Profound 
peace , ... , r 108 

Chap. VII. — Revolt of Socorro. — Insurrection of 1794 — Spa- 
nish Viceroys — Revolt of Caracas in 1810 — Revolt of 
New Grenada — TheViceroy Amar — Miranda — Bolivar — 
Monteverde reconquers Caracas — Bolivar passes over 
to Curasao — He ? abandons it — Returns by Carthagena to 
Caracas — Is defeated — Crosses the Cordillera — Seizes 
Santa-Fe — Marches to attack Castillo at Carthagena — 
Is defeated — Passes over to Jamaica — General ambi- 
tion — Morillo subjects the country 126 

Chap. VIII — Samanon Viceroy — Spanish Soldiers — Ameri- 
can Soldiers — Bolivar returns to Santa-Fe — Proceeds to 
Quito — Afterwards to Guayaquil — Character of the 
principal Generals 141 

Chap. IX. — The new Government — Constitution of Cucuta 
— Division of the country into departments — Renewal 
of the Cabildos — Civil laws— Justice — Congress — The 
Executive Power - 159 

Chap. X. — Return to Bogota — Puenta Real — Copper mines 

of Moniquira — Chinquira — Salt mines of Zipaquira.. 173 

Chap. XI. — Santa-Fe de Bogota — Climate — Houses — Furni- 
ture — Cathedral — Convents — Hospital — Colleges — The 
President's Palace — Palace of the Deputies — Palace of 



* v CONTENTS. 

Pag--i 

the Senate— Pri sods— The Mint aud Theatre— Streets- 
Police — Market— Paupers —Public Walks— Mode of 
Living — Shops — Amusements — Fete Dieu — Manners — 
Devotees— Scientific Establishments— Character of the 
Inhabitants ,...> 184 

Chap. XII.— Finances— Brandy— Post Office — Revenue- 
Stamps — Alcavala — Direct Taxation — War — Army — 
Fortified places— Marine— Foreign Relations 207 

Chap. XIII. — Departure from Bogota for Popayan Gua- 
duas— Chaguani — San-Juan — Return to Guaduas — Short 
stay in that Town — Beltran — Ambalema — San Luis — 
Chaparral — Natagaima — Parande — Samboja — Villa Vie- 
ja— Neyva., 220 

Chap. XIV. — Tambo del Ovo — Passo Dorningarios — Rope 
Bridge — La Plata — Pedregal — San Francisco — Insa 
Mountain of Guanacas — Totoro — Panikita — Popayan — 
Volcano of Purace 256 

Chap. XV. — Departure from Popayan — Mine of Ailegrias 
Quilichao — The Cauca — Samondi — Cali — Departurefrom 
Cali— Las Juntas * 281 

Chap. XVI. — Dangerous navigation of the Dagua — San- 
Buenaventura — Description of the province of Choco 
Departure from San-Buenaventura on board a Peruvian 
schooner — Arrival at Panama — Observations on the great 
Ocean 293 

Chap. XVII. — Description of the town of Panama The 

women of Colombia 316 

Chap. XVIII. — Description of the Republic of Colombia — 
Mountains — Climate — Air — Seasons — Temperature — 
Wind — Rain — Tropical Influence — Harvest — Forests — 
Rivers — Ravines — Mines — Lakes — Seas — Wild Animals 
Domestic Animals — Plains of the Oronooko — General 
appearance of the Country , 327 

Chap. XIX. — Population — Inhabitants of the Paramos — 
Inhabitants of the Corn Mountains — Inhabitants of the 
plains — Indios bravos — Negro Slaves — Religion 340 

Chap. XX. — Character of the Colombians 358 

Chap. XXI. — Agriculture — Industry Reflexions on the Ca- 
panian tree — Mines — Coins — Salt-works— Commerce — 
Exportations — Importations 370 

Chap. XXII. — Communication by land and water — Com- 
mercial laws » 393 

Chap. XXIII. — Departure from Panama — Cruces — The 

river Chagres — The Gorgona — Chagres 409 

Chap. XXIV. — Arrival at Jamaica — Departure for Euro- 
pe — Lucayos or Bahama islands — Falmouth — Arrival in 
France , -w<.. 416 



Notes and Illustrations 



425 



TRAVELS 

IN THE 

REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



CHAPTER I. 

Departure from France — The Azores — Coasts of the United States — Nor- 
folk — Washington — New Carthagena — Departure for Bogota — Tur- 
baco — Barranca — Route from Carthagena to the Magdalena. 

The sanguinary struggle in which Spanish Ame- 
rica was engaged, and the surprising revolution 
which had taken place there, opening as it did to 
foreigners the long-closed ports of that con- 
tinent, had excited my curiosity in the highest 
degree. Longing to satisfy it, I eagerly embraced 
the first opportunity which presented itself ; a 
ship of war being on the point of sailing to the 
Antilles for the protection of our commerce, I 
solicited permission to embark on board her ; 
my request was granted. 

I lost no time in making the necessary pre- 
parations, and, upon arriving at the place of 
embarkation, was informed that the vessel would 
first touch at the United States; information 

B 



2 



TRAVELS IN THE 



which, far from being* disagreeable, was par- 
ticularly gratifying, as it would procure me the 
means of visiting both Americas. 

After some unforeseen delays, we set sail in 
the month of August, 1822. On the 1st of Sep- 
tember we came in sight of the Azores ; passed 
St. Michael ; and, early the next day, saw Ter- 
ceiras, St. George, and Pico. An American 
whaler was the only vessel we met with in these 
latitudes. 

Our passage was on the whole favourable, 
and would have been completely so, but for the 
fogs on the coast of North America, which pre- 
vented our seamen from taking observations suf- 
ficiently exact to remove all uncertainty. At 
length, on the 26th, at six o'clock in the even- 
ing, an American pilot comforted us with the 
assurance that we were not far from land ; and, 
the next day, we descried the sandy coasts of 
Virginia covered with forests of pines. At one 
o'clock in the afternoon we anchored at a short 
distance from the fort of Hampton, now called, 
after the president, Fort Monroe. 

Before the arrival of a boat to carry me to 
Norfolk, which is about four leagues to the south- 
east of Hampton, I had an opportunity of exa- 
mining the novel spectacle which surrounded 
me ; and saw, with particular interest, the fort 
raised in the middle of the bay to defend the 
entrance to the Chesapeak, by which the English, 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



3 



in 1814^ penetrated as far as Washington. This 
fort requires three hundred pieces of artillery. 

It was not till the evening of the 28th, that 
I could procure, for my passage to Norfolk, one 
of those pilot-boats, so light, but at the same 
time so dangerous, in which the helmsman is 
obliged to confine himself within a narrow hole 
to prevent his being washed away by the billows 
which continually break over his frail bark ; the 
numerous tacks we were compelled to make pre- 
vented our arriving at the town till midnight. 
Norfolk is very advantageously situated for 
commerce, from its short distance from Chesa- 
peak Bay, into which so many rivers discharge 
themselves. The streets of Norfolk, as in all 
towns of English construction, are wide, and 
furnished with trottoirs. The houses are of brick ; 
while the variety of their structure, and the neat- 
ness prevailing in their interiors, impart an air of 
cheerfulness to Norfolk which renders it very 
interesting to foreigners. 

Upon seeing the grass plots which surround 
each habitation, and the trees which overshadow 
its roof, the traveller would be tempted to ima- 
gine himself in the midst of the country, did not 
the confusion caused by numerous carriages of 
all descriptions, and the bustle of the port, which 
hundreds of boats and vessels are crossing in 
every direction, announce that Norfolk is a com- 
mercial town of considerable importance, 

b 2 



4 



TRAVELS IN THE 



On the 30th of September, I left this place 
for Washington ; and, after sailing on the Chesa- 
peak till midnight, entered the Potowmack. 

At daybreak, we were between the coasts of 
Maryland and those of Virginia. The heat was 
great ; but little cultivation was visible : the 
lands were yet maiden ones. Notwithstanding 
the cheap rate at which the government disposes 
of them 50 francs an acre,* the system of sla- 
very kept up in these provinces deters the colo- 
nists, who prefer passing the Allegany Mountains, 
and establishing themselves in the west, where 
they find land at 5 francs an acre.-}- About one 
o'clock we discovered Mount Vernon, the resi- 
dence of Washington ; although its architecture 
is simple, what interesting recollections does it 
bring to mind ! 

Leaving on our right the mouth of the Pis- 
cataway, near which is a fort destined one day to 
defend the capital from the torches of the Eng- 
lish, we came in sight of Alexandria, a town 
flourishing during the time of war, but now 
in a declining state. Its streets, laid down 
geometrically, are all perpendicular to the river, 
which produces a singular effect ; for on one 
side, it is bordered by woods of pine, and on 
the other by forests of masts. From Alexandria 
we perceived the wooden bridge of Washington, 

* About SSs. English, 
f About 3s. 9d. English. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



5 



which is a mile in extent; and soon after, the city 
itself appeared in the midst of cultivated fields, 
occupying almost the whole extent allotted to it. 

Washington is a city of prodigious extent, 
with reference to the plan after which it has 
been built ; but, except at the meeting of Con- 
gress, it is but a melancholy solitude, in which 
it is impossible to escape from ennui. This is 
the only time it has the appearance of being 
inhabited ; and the few country-houses scattered 
about its vicinity are filled with strangers, whose 
presence imparts some degree of animation to 
the city. At the time I was there, the number 
of inhabitants was very small ; so much so, that 
I considered I had seen the whole city the very 
first day even of my arrival. I shall not here 
repeat the description of its public monuments, 
as they are to be found in almost every account 
of voyages to the United States. The next day I 
embarked upon the Potowmack to return to Nor- 
folk, and was twenty-four hours in performing 
the sixty leagues, which separate the two towns. 

Our vessel was to re-victual at Norfolk, 
and for this a few days only were requisite. On 
the 13th of November we again weighed an- 
chor ; the wind, which, at first favourable, had 
carried us out of the roads, and enabled us 
to double Cape Henry, suddenly became con- 
trary, and obliged us to anchor opposite that 
point. The delay, however, was not long ; the 



6 



TRAVELS IN THE 



next day we again set sail, and before sun-set 
lost sight of the coasts of North America. 

Upon arriving in a country to which we 
are strange rs, every one communicates the in- 
formation he has acquired from the relations 
of travellers, while the accounts of persons who 
have already visited it are listened to with pe- 
culiar interest. Upon quitting it, they who at 
first, from ignorance, had paid implicit defer- 
ence to the accounts of their precursors, and had 
confined themselves to being mere auditors, hasten 
to avail themselves of their newly-acquired ex- 
perience, and feel a malicious gratification in 
contradicting what they themselves had adopted 
in the first instance, as the result of mature re- 
flection. Thus it was with each of us ; we were 
eager mutually to communicate our remarks, 
and to make our comments upon them : many 
institutions which seemed inconsistent with the 
principle upon which the social edifice of the 
United States had been founded, struck us with 
astonishment. The lash under which the negro- 
slaves still smart cracked in our ears*; the pre- 
judices under which men of colour groaned, 
shocked our sensibility; morals appeared re- 
laxed, which indeed they must have been to a 
great degree to have provoked the censure of 
sailors, naturally not inclined to be severe in 

* In 1820, the number of slaves in the United States 
amounted to 1,538,128. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



7 



these matters. The police, which, while it allows 
great liberty to foreigners, affords them but little 
security against the bad faith of traders, or the 
treachery of domestics, allowed but little room 
for admiration. Above all, great complaints 
were made of the remissness of the Americans 
in adopting precautionary measures against the 
yellow fever, thus exposing all the towns upon 
the coast to its annual ravages. On the other 
hand, it was impossible not to praise the activity 
of their commerce, the good order of their ma- 
rine, the eagerness with which they avail them- 
selves of all new inventions, and particularly of 
steam-engines, which have become for them, as 
well as for every nation that employs them, a 
great and incalculable means of riches and 
power. Many persons, especially among the 
military, were thought to have a leaning towards 
aristocracy ; and indeed, some recent institu- 
tions, such as the establishment of a school for 
the officers at New York, prove that the go- 
vernment, far from discountenancing, encourage 
it. In short, a great source of division might 
be foreseen in the population of colour which 
peoples the southern provinces, while those of 
the north contain comparatively but few, who 
oppose, to the utmost of their power, the system 
of their southern neighbours. In general, the 
opinions thus given of countries which we had 
only in fact just perceived, were marked by 



8 



TRAVELS IN THE 



impartiality ; it was agreed that the manners 
of the inhabitants of Virginia might be very 
different from those of Pensylvania, and that 
the system of slavery imparted so peculiar a phy- 
siognomy to the regions of the south, that it was 
difficult to recognize the traits of the English 
character, — I mean of that creative activity which 
operates miracles in so many places. 

The towns had appeared dull and the coun- 
try monotonous from the forests of pine by which 
it was covered, and the roads inconvenient from 
being formed of beams as in Russia. The climate 
of Norfolk was found to be too warm, that of 
Washington too cold and damp. We were gene- 
rally pleased with the neatness and simplicity 
observable in the interior of the houses, and still 
more gratified by the kindness and hospitality of 
the inhabitants. These virtues of which they 
possessed a great share, were rendered more amia- 
ble among the women from the charm of sin t 
cerity.-— The men generally preserved the charac- 
teristic taciturnity of the English. 

The winds and the waves were so favorable, 
that we daily made great way. The pleasure we 
felt at soon arriving in the equinoctial seas con- 
tributed much to enliven our conversations ; but 
a sudden change of the wind damped our joy, 
and caused our hope of making a quick and 
agreeable passage to be succeeded by all the dis- 
agreeableness of a tedious voyage. In short 



REPUBLIC OP COLOMBIA. 



9 



we were becalmed near the Bermudas. In vain 
we sought for something to relieve the weary 
uniformity of the motionless ocean ; in vain, our 
eyes fixed on the horizon, did we endeavour to 
discover some movement on the liquid plain ; 
all was still. At length some fish made their 
appearance, and the pleasure of catching them 
was doubled by the hope that they were the pre- 
cursors of winds. Their arrival was not a falla- 
cious prognostic ; on the 24th of October, a 
breeze from the south south-west relieved us 
from our unpleasant position, and carried us as 
far the 31° of latitude and 62° of longitude. We 
did not however cross the tropic until the 3rd 
of November. On the 8th we perceived Porto 
Rico, and found ourselves in latitude 14° 52'; 
the next day we sailed in sight of the small is- 
lands of Zacheo, Mona and Monito. These iso- 
lated rocks, covered with brush- wood, and bind- 
weed, appear inaccessible ; before nightfall they 
were no longer in sight: we had entered the 
sea of the Antilles. Two days afterwards upon 
seeing land, we sounded, and found bottom at 
forty five fathoms. Having afterwards arrived 
in latitude 11° 18', we fell in with the Colum- 
bian fleet, dispatched to form the blockade 
of Maraca'ibo, which had fallen into the posses- 
sion of the Spanish general Morales. 

The captain was not without anxiety as he 
approached land. The little depth which the 



10 



TRAVELS IN THE 



sounding line every where indicated, the va- 
riation of the currents, the storms which burst 
over us daily, and the dangerous coasts suffi- 
ciently justified his apprehensions, these were, 
however, considerably lessened upon seeing, on 
the loth, the point of Zamba, a promontory 
formed by ten unequal mounds. . At length on 
the 17th, we perceived the convent built upon 
the Popa ; Carthagena is at the foot of this 
height. The next day we weighed anchor early 
and sailed for the port ; we soon passed Boca- 
Grande, a canal which the Spaniards the better 
to defend the approaches to Carthagena, have 
blocked up by sinking old vessels in it ; a few 
moments after we entered the passage of Boca- 
Chica, which is defended by two strong castles. 
An officer sent by the commandant of one of the 
castles came on board, we then hoisted all 
sails, and entered the magnificent port of Car- 
thagena about five o'clock in the evening. 

The vessel was not long in resuming her 
voyage, and I had to feel the regret of separating 
from those persons whose amiable society had so 
agreeably lessened the tediousness of the passage. 

The hope of soon penetrating into the Cor- 
dilleras, by reviving my taste for land travel- 
ling, had determined me not to proceed any 
further by sea ; I remained at Carthagena. 

Upon arriving in the town, I had to guard 
against those favourable prepossessions which are 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



11 



almost always indulged, when coming from off 
the ocean : all then appears beautiful ; the least 
verdure seems a parterre ; a miserable hut a pa- 
lace, and any land a paradise. I, on the con- 
trary, experienced a very different impression^ 
and the comparison which I drew between Nor- 
folk and Carthagena, was by no means favour- 
able to the towns of South America. Cartha- 
gena in fact presents the melancholy aspect of 
a cloister, long galleries, short and clumsy co- 
lumns, streets narrow and dark, from the too 
great projection of the terraces which almost 
prevent the admission of day-light ; the greater 
part of the houses dirty, full of smoke, po- 
verty stricken, and sheltering beings still more 
filthy, black and miserable, such is the picture 
at first presented by a city adorned with tie 
name of the rival of Rome. However, on entering 1 
the houses, their construction, singular at first 
sight, appears afterwards to be well contrived, 
the object being to admit the circulation of the 
fresh air. The rooms are nothing but immense 
vestibules in which the cool air, unfortunately so 
rare, might be respired with the utmost delight, 
were it not for the stings of thousands of insects, 
and for the bats whose poisonous bites are not 
only more painful, but are even said to be ve- 
nemous. A table, half-a-dozen wooden chairs, 
a mat bed, a large jar, and two candlesticks 
generally compose the whole stock of furniture 



i 



12 



TRAVELS IN THE 



of these habitations, which are built of brick and 
covered in with tiles. Two sieges, which Car- 
thagena has undergone, have ruined the re- 
sources of the majority of its inhabitants. 

Carthagena is very strong, and of vast ex- 
tent ; 9000 men at least would be required to 
defend it at all points. The immense cisterns 
contained within its walls are justly objects of 
admiration ; and the water preserved in them is 
excellent. Carthagena is therefore rather a for- 
tified than a commercial town, and will entirely 
cease to be the latter, when it is no longer the 
entrepot of Panama. At a distance of two hun- 
dred leagues from the equator, its temperature 
is hot and unhealthy, and the yellow fever makes 
frequent ravages there. 

The population of Carthagena, about 18,000 
souls, is for the most part, composed of people of 
colour, the greater proportion of whom are sai- 
lors or fishermen. Many keep shops for the sale 
of mercery or eatables, others follow useful 
trades ; they display a nascent industry, which, 
to prosper, perhaps only requires encouragement 
and emulation. Their shell-works are beautiful, 
they are skilful jewellers, good carpenters, ex- 
cellent shoemakers, tolerable tailors, indifferent 
joiners, black rather than whitesmiths, masons 
destitute of all ideas of proportion, and bad 
painters, but impassioned musicians. 

The dangers of the sea, an industry often 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



IS 



praised, and always well paid, have inspired the 
people of colour with a pride, which often gives 
occasion for complaint. Their petulance and 
vivacity form a singular contrast with the in- 
difference and mildness of those who are called 
whites, so that, notwithstanding their idleness, 
they appear active and laborious. The contra- 
band trade is exclusively confined to them, and 
the heartiness with which they engage in it, is 
a reproach to those whose duty it is to put a 
stop to the illicit traffic. 

The women of colour, the offspring of ne- 
gresses and white men, are tall, and much more 
agreeable than the mulattos of our Antilles who 
are generally too corpulent ; , daughters of the 
Indians and negroes, their physiognomy possesses 
greater delicacy and expression. If, on the one 
hand, the races become more enervated under 
the tropics as they become fairer, on the other, 
their personal appearance is improved ; thus it 
is, that the female mulattos are very inferior 
in beauty to the white, and lose much when seen 
near them, which often happens with the Spa- 
niards, in whose churches there are no privi- 
leged places as in those of the United-States. 
With the Spaniards, all pray to God in common, 
without regard to colour, and an insurrection 
would doubtless be the consequence, should the 
following notice be officially affixed at the church 
doors : To day instruction for men of colour. 



14 



TRAVELS IN THE 



On the 1st of January, 1823, I prepared for 
my departure to Santa-Fe de Bogota. The alarm 
every where inspired by the proximity of Mora- 
les, at that time master of Maracaibo, had pre- 
vented my setting out earlier. As soon as I was 
assured that the Spanish general was not ap- 
proaching Rio-Magdalen a, I applied to the go- 
vernor for horses. This officer sent in search 
for them in every direction. As the army of 
Montillo, the patriotic chief, was being re- 
mounted, the country people kept their animals 
concealed in the woods, in order to escape the 
requisitions ; some however, were at length dis- 
covered, and notwithstanding the well founded 
complaints of their owners, were brought to me 
harrassed, and worn out with hunger and fatigue. 
In the mean time, while trusting too much to 
my muleteer, I was engaged in preparing for my 
journey, the poor beasts were tied up in a court- 
yard, where they remained three whole days 
without a blade of grass to support nature, so 
that, when unconscious of their wants, I began my 
journey, I met with continual interruptions from 
the wretched animals dying every instant upon the 
road from exhaustion. The heat was most inten- 
se, and we were with difficulty making our way 
through the woods, when I heard a voice behind 
me exclaim in French : Monsieur^ oil allez-vous ? 
The question and the language in which it was 
expressed, made me turn my head, and I saw 



RKPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



15 



a young" man spurring on his horse in order to 
overtake me : after having answered his ques- 
tion, he anticipated my enquiries, by informing 
me that he was born at St. Etienne en Forest, 
that he was by trade a gunsmith, and had come 
to Columbia with the hope of making his fortune, 
but all his calculations had proved erroneous. 
After mentioning some other particulars, he pro- 
posed accompanying me ; I willingly accepted 
his offer, and had no reason to regret doing so ; 
for perceiving how much I was plagued with my 
horses, he rendered me considerable service, 
both by assisting the muleteer and urging on the 
horses which lagged behind. We passed by Ter- 
nera, and conversing as we proceeded, upon the 
robberies committed a short time before upon 
this road by deserters, arrived safely at Turba- 
co, much fatigued with our first day's journey. 

A letter of recommendation which the in- 
tendant at Carthagena had given me to all the 
alcaides, insured me agood reception atTurbaco, 
the alcaid procured me a lodging at the house 
of one of the principal citizens ; he was a painter, 
a title uniformly assumed by the daubers of that 
country ; my host however shewed me a thousand 
civilities. 

According to the travelling custom of Spa- 
nish Americans, I had provided myself with 
a kettle, a frying-pan, and all the utensil 
and provisions not procurable on the road. I 



16 



TRAVELS IN THE 



had also one of those beds brought from Spain, 
generally esteemed so very convenient from their 
being contained in a small trunk, easily carried 
by the beast of burden. I therefore caused myhost 
but little trouble ; my bed was spread out in one 
of the best rooms of the house. All night long, I 
felt it very cool, a proof that this place is very 
healthy for Europeans, who, from fear of the 
climate of Carthagena, should remain here till 
their vessels are ready to sail. Turbaco is only 
six leagues from Carthagena, which renders a 
residence in this village doubly agreeable from 
the facility afforded of being quickly in the 
centre of business. 

I left Turbaco the next day, the alcade had 
procured me two saddle-horses, in lieu of the 
wretched beasts of the preceding day. Not- 
withstanding the excessive heat, we arrived at 
an early hour at Ajona ; I presented myself at 
the alcades, the only attention I received was 
an order for lodging upon one of his subordina- 
tes. When I asked the alcade to procure horses, 
he replied, that it was impossible before the fol- 
lowing day ; this was a very great disappointment. 

My host, to whom I mentioned my embar- 
rassment instantly dispatched some of his people 
into the country, and before four o'clock my bag- 
gage was all loaded. A glass of rum testified 
my gratitude to this worthy man, and I per- 
ceived that among the christians of America, 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



17 



both services and gratitude are obtained with 
this liquor, as they are among the Mahometan 
negroes of Africa, by tobacco. Night soon sur- 
prised us, and our progress was very uncertain. 
After having wandered a long time in the woods, 
the assistance of a beautiful moonlight enabled 
us to recover our track ; and, at nine o'clock 
at night, we were on the banks of the Dique, 
a branch of the Magdalena, by which Cartha- 
gena is approached in the rainy season. When I 
crossed it, its waters were very low, and yet 
reached to our saddles. Neither bridge nor 
ferry had yet been established on this canal, 
although these are to be found in other places 
far less difficult ; the traveller has, however, less 
to complain of the inconvenience of the ford, 
than of the musquitoes which infest it. It is in 
vain to hasten from these desolate shores, these 
formidable insects are again met with at Ma- 
hates, a village containing about two hundred 
inhabitants, where to sleep is absolutely impos- 
sible. We both rose before day-break, in order 
to leave as quickly as possible this place of suffer- 
ing ; and, at seven o'clock, passed through Santa 
Crux, about three leagues farther on : this village 
is composed of twenty huts belonging to negroes, 
who are cultivators of cotton. It is singular, 
that the negroes, who have brought into America 
so many customs, and even utensils and instru- 
ments belonging to the countries whence they 

c 



18 



TRAVELS IN THE 



were taken, have no where given a round form 
to their ajqupas, which are all square. 

At Ariando, the alcaid received us in his 
hut, constructed with hurdles of rushes, and 
plastered over with mud mixed with straw. 

Near this place, we met a government cou - 
rier, the bearer of an order to the governor of 
Carthagenn, for the transportation of three hun- 
dred Spaniards. This man was very angry at 
my muleteer, who, speaking of the capital, had 
said Santa Fe, instead of Bogota. Fortunately, 
however, the quarrel here ended. We discovered 
Barranca from the top of the coast on the decli- 
vity of which this town is built. I lodged there 
at the house of an old Peruvian, whose services 
in the cause of liberty had been so important, 
that he flattered himself with obtaining the situ- 
ation of director of the posts at Carthagena, the 
emoluments of which amount to 10,000 francs.* 

Although on the road from Carthagena to 
Barranca, there are neither rugged mountains to 
climb, nor deep rivers to cross, yet the suffo- 
cating heat, and the thin and burning air re- 
spired in the forests he has to traverse, cause 
much suffering to the European traveller. It is 
true, that, to make up for these evils, he is sure to 
meet with hospitality ; nor is it a trifling advan- 
tage to find, in the deserts of the New World, a 



* About £375 sterling. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



19 



lodging, a kitchen, and the power of procuring, 
at a small expense, fowls, eggs, and bread ; beef 
is very seldom to be met with. With a few 
exceptions, I had very little reason to be satisfied 
with the alcaids. 

The aspect of these countries is interesting 
for the admirers of wild and savage scenery. 
Trees of immense height, and a healthy vegeta- 
tion, cover the whole country ; and the shade 
thus afforded would be delicious, could it be 
penetrated by the cool zephyrs. The mahagua 
(bombax) is especially worthy of engaging the 
traveller's attention : the trunk of this tree is 
very lofty, and bears upon its top a foliage ex- 
tremely thick. The fruit contains a woolly sub- 
stance, which the negroes gather very carefully 
for the purpose of stuffing their pillows. 

But few things have been planted on these 
vast tracts by the hand of man ; a few cotton 
and mace fields, a few feet of indigo, compose 
the whole of their agricultural riches. Under a 
kind master, the negro, who with the mulatto is the 
most frequently met with, gives himself up to the 
idleness, to which he is invited by the heat of the 
equinoctial line, and the multiplicity of his reli- 
gious festivals. Bound to pay his landlord a fixed 
and moderate rent, he is punctual in discharging 
it, as much labour is not required to obtain its 
amount. Thus, in the space which separates 
Barranca from the seas, a territory is found, 

c 2 



20 



TRAVELS IN THE 



which is cultivated and inhabited similarly to 
those which I had traversed in Africa ; I should 
even have been sometimes tempted to believe 
that I was still travelling upon that continent, 
had I not every where seen the authority in the 
hands of the whites, or of people who affect that 
title, without possessing* any real right to it. 
The road, although convenient enough, is not 
very level ; the ground is hilly, so that the tra- 
veller is frequently ascending and descending. 
As this road is, during the dry season, the prin- 
cipal line of communication between the capital 
and the coast, its traffic is considerable ; yet 
notwithstanding, no rich towns are to be met 
with ; there are a few cattle, but in this season 
they are very poor. All animals in the tropical 
plains, like the plants, require the rains to invi- 
gorate them ; these being over, they again droop 
and languish. 

Jaguars, monkeys, and parrots, make the 
air re-echo with their cries ; and vast numbers 
of stags and wild hogs people the woods. 

Nothing picturesque is to be found in these 
extensive forests, the dull uniformity of which 
is only now and then varied by numerous tribes 
of flowers. Upon approaching the Magdalena, 
the prospect becomes more inviting ; the long- 
tracts of granite (gres) which impart such a 
sombre character to the road from Carthagena 
to Barranca disappear ; alluvial lands seem to 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



21 



Invite the inhabitants to bestow a better culti- 
vation upon them ; the verdure, more frequently 
watered, is less sickly; while the cattle feeding 
upon more juicy pastures, are fatter and more 
prolific. 

Barranca, the town at which travellers as- 
cending- the Magdalena, embark in the dry 
season, is thinly peopled, notwithstanding* its 
agreeable situation. If the heat is very intense 
there during the day, the breeze which occasion- 
ally rises, refreshes the atmosphere ; nor is this 
its only advantage, it likewise drives towards 
the head of the river the immense clouds of 
musquitoes, from which Barranca is conse- 
quently freed. The importance which this place at 
present enjoys, on account of the piraguas* and 
the asses let out to travellers, will cease as soon 
as the Dique is rendered navigable at all seasons ; 
a design intended to be carried into execution. 

* The piragua is a large canoe, managed with oars, 
about 30 feet long and 4 broad in the middle. Each piragua 
has two masts and two square sails. The rowers are called 
Bogas. — Translator. 



22 



TRAVELS IN THE 



CHAPTER II. 

Departure from Barranca — Village of Teneriffe — Sembrano— Isle San Pe- 
dro— Pinto — Santa Anna — Monpox — The Governor of Monpox — Mar- 
garita — Guamo — Penon — Banko — Sierra-Ocana — Regidor — Rio-Viejo — 
Morales — Vadillc — The Inhabitants of the Magdalena — Boca Rosa- 
rio — San Pablo — The Point of Barbacoa — Garapata — Angustura — 
Nare. 

To accomplish our journey to Bogata, it was 
necessary to ascend the Magdalena ; and al- 
though the navigation is dangerous, and requires 
a month to accomplish it, I considered it pre- 
ferable to the journey over-land. Before em- 
barking, I took the opinion of my host, who 
gave me his advice in a few words, and painted 
the sufferings I should have to endure in the 
blackest colours. 

The first proof of his not having been guil- 
ty of any exaggeration, was in beholding the 
five sailors, hired to conduct my piragua, and 
who were completely inebriated. There was 
something very designing in their savage coun- 
tenances, but this I afterwards found belonged 
rather to their peculiar employment, than to 
any thing particularly wicked in their dispo- 
sitions. Thanks to the care of the old Peru- 
vian, my arrangements were promptly concluded. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



23 



By five o'clock all my effects were on board my 
fragile bark ; and my bogas, as they call the 
mariners of the Magdalena, bade their adieu 
to Barranca chaunting the litanies of the Vir- 
gin. 

In consequence of their intoxication, at 
every thrust which these boatmen gave with 
their poles, to push forwards the piragua, they 
staggered and fell one over the other into the 
water, so that it was seven o'clock before we 
passed Barranca-Nueva, which I had recently 
quitted. At half-past eight we stopped at Oiou- 
gar. The next morning, we again started before 
the rising of the sun, and by the time it ap- 
peared, beheld with delight a charming vil- 
lage, to which its name Buena- Vista, signifying 
a delightful prospect, is certainly well applied. 

We thence glided along between the verdant 
banks of a river, which, besides its magnitude, 
presented me with many other traits of resem- 
blance to the Senegal. The solitude of the 
forests on its uncultivated borders, the heat that 
we experienced, and the black human beings 
who, at considerable intervals, were seen seated 
under their cabins of reeds surrounded by 
fields of maize, or, cleaving the current of the 
river in hollow trees, transported me in imagin- 
ation to the wilds of Africa. 

The negro of the Magdalena does not, how- 
ever, possess the manly courage, the bold intre- 



24 



TRAVELS IN THE 



pidity, and the muscular form of the inhabitant 
of Senegal; neither has he that blind confi- 
dence in the protection of his God, with which 
a scrap of paper purchased of an impostor of 
a priest, inspires the other. The African, rely- 
ing on the efficacy of such a talisman, neither 
dreads the gripe of the crocodile, nor the venom 
of the snake ; he throws himself without dread 
into the water, and penetrates without inquie- 
tude into the deepest thickets. The degenerate 
black of the Magdalena is every where in dread 
of meeting with an enemy, and never forgets 
the spot that has been fatal to an imprudent 
being. " Here," said one of my bogas to me, 
u a man and his ass were devoured by a ser- 
pent : there, a boga fell a prey to a cayman, 
and in that place, a jaguar tore an infant to 
pieces ;" — and such are the frightful recollec- 
tions afforded by every part of the Magdalena. 
The African, on the contrary, when amid his 
native streams recites nothing but the sanguinary 
contests sustained by man against ferocious ani- 
mals, and the victories which crowned his fana- 
tical valour. 

Without regarding the danger we ran of 
encountering the partisans of Morales, we kept 
upon the shore of Santa-Martha, in order to 
avoid the dangerous currents of the other side 
of the river ; and, after having proceeded three 
leagues beyond Teneriffe, making our whole 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



25 



day's voyage thirty leagues, we took up our 
abode for the night upon a sandy spot of shore 
in the province of Carthagena. 

The labours of my bogas were now exces- 
sively painful ; from the river becoming very nar- 
row, the current was much increased in violence, 
and could only be surmounted by keeping close 
in shore, and hauling ourselves along by the 
branches of the trees. We here experienced 
some gales from the north, that greatly tem- 
pered the heat, which we found excessive during 
that part of the night when they cease to 
blow ; on the contrary, from two o'clock in the 
morning to the rising of the sun, the cold was 
so piercing, that I was unable to sleep. We were 
here no longer solitary possessors of the river ; 
for, since the last evening, we were gratified with 
the sight of fishermen and crocodiles vying with 
each other in giving chase to the fishy tribe. 

At two o'clock, we passed Sembrano, and 
the island of San Pedro ; and, taking the 
right branch of the stream, enjoyed a delicious 
prospect. The isle of San Pedro is entirely co- 
vered with trees, whose branches serve as a refuge 
for thousands of parroquets ; the variegated plu- 
mage of the macaws forms an agreeable contrast 
to the gloomy green of the trees, while the shrill 
cries of these birds somewhat relieve the silence 
of this peaceful part of the river. In these so- 
litudes, man might find an agreeable retreat 



26 



TRAVELS IN THE 



where the soil, enriched by the inundations of 
the river, would largely recompense his labours ; 
the situation is also favourable in a commer- 
cial point of view, as it is a convenient distance 
from Barranca and Monpox. On quitting this 
asylum of peace, we again found ourselves ex- 
posed to the currents of the river, and not with- 
out danger from its rocks and shoals. A Pro- 
montory formed of vast cliffs, against which the 
waters of the Magdalena were precipitated with 
violence, in particular, caused a current which 
we surmounted with much hazard and difficul- 
ty, and it was ten at night before we had finished 
our labours. A sand bank, as usual, was our 
place of repose. 

Little accustomed to the course of life to 
which one is condemned on the waters of the 
Magdalena, the neighbourhood of serpents and 
caymans, the bites of mosquitoes, and the icy 
cold occasioned by the dews and the humidity of 
the soil prevented me from sleeping the whole 
of the night ; but when use had fortified me 
against these inconveniences, the necessity of 
taking rest made me disregard them. 

When a person is witness of the fatigues 
which the mariners of the Magdalena undergo, he 
restrains himself, however anxious he may be to 
proceed with more expedition, from uttering any 
complaints, or from being vexed at the frequent 
delays. The bogas make a practice of stopping as 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



27 



often as possible ; to day they thought it neces- 
sary to dig up some turtle's eggs; but after all 
their trouble, they were unsuccessful, and the 
fruit of their labours was a few dozen eggs of 
the cayman, which were very properly destroyed: 
scarcely had they made this sacrifice, when they 
had the happiness of meeting a fisherman with 
his piragua laden ; my generosity was instantly ap- 
pealed to, and I had an opportunity of displaying 
it at a trifling expense, for with a couple of reals 
I purchased a dozen large fish which we found 
quite sufficient for several meals. 

Little alarmed by the perils, with which we 
had been informed, we should be menaced on the 
side of the province of Santa Martha, we con- 
tinued coasting along that shore, stopping a few 
minutes at Pinto to purchase some tobacco and 
sugar-canes ; commodities which, in this place, 
are of a superior quality, and in great abund- 
ance. — My bogas, always anxious to obtain some 
turtle's eggs, fancied they should be more suc- 
cessful than before, upon a sand bank at a little 
distance from Pinto, but were again disappointed. 
A few cayman's eggs were found and were 
broken against the side of the piragua, under the 
eyes of one of these reptiles : his muzzle appeared 
above the water close to the edge of the river, 
nor did he quit us until the work of destruction 
was finished. Leaving upon our right that branch 
of the river which leads to Saragossa, we entered 



<2S 



TRAVELS IN THE 



that which goes to Honda, and before night 
were in sight of Santa Anna. 

When daylight began to appear, we found 
ourselves at Monpox, and landed over frag- 
ments of the quay with which the banks of the 
river had been scattered, a great part of it 
having been thrown down by the stream. When I 
attained the top, I was conducted to the gover- 
nor's residence, across a square that appeared 
tolerably regular. — The letter of recommenda- 
tion which I had brought with me, procured me 
many civilities, and the offer of a lodging, which 
I accepted. 

The governor, not confining himself to these 
attentions, would have me, in the evening, go 
over the town on horseback with him. He 
seemed anxious that I should examine the pre- 
parations he had made for defense against any 
attack on the part of Morales. I eulogized the hill 
with which he had fortified an open town, as it 
{v^operly deserved, and my praises appeared to 
give him great satisfaction. " Here, he first 
told me, was a number of houses, surrounded by 
a thick wood, all of which have disappeared ; for 
I have set fire to the whole, to give me a clearer 
view of the approach of our enemy." " These 
ditches," said he, " will stop his cavalry, while 
mine, on the contrary, supported by my infan- 
try, will make dreadful havoc among his troops; 
and my sloops of war, will pour in a terrible fire 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA, 



29 



upon his vessels." — It was in vain that I used my 
best efforts to discover what he wished to show 
me, for about forty horsemen quite naked, en- 
camped in the middle of a field under a thatched 
shed, with two hundred militia, quartered in an 
ancient college of the Jesuits, composed all his 
army; and five boats with one gun to each, 
formed the muster of this redoubtable marine. 

The town is not destitute of interest on ac- 
count of its position. The streets are of a con- 
venient breadth, and some are even furnished 
with paved foot-ways. The houses though low, 
are regularly built, and the bars of the windows, 
being made of iron, have a less clumsy appearance 
than those of Carthagena, where they are made 
of wood. Constructed in a manner the most con- 
venient for enjoying as much coolness as possible, 
very little ingenuity is applied to furnishing the 
interior with light, for the insides of all the houses 
are pervaded by long low galleries into which the 
rays of the sun never penetrate. Although the 
commercial relations of Monpox have lost much of 
their importance, they still retain a certain de- 
gree of interest ; in fact, by the way of Ocana, 
this place receives the tobacco, sugar, flour, and 
cocoa of Pampluna and Cuenta. Antioqua trans- 
mits . it gold, and Santa-Fe the produce of the 
upper Magdalena ; thus Monpox is still really a 
place of much consequence. 



30 



TRAVELS IN THE 



The climate is burning, the thermometer 
ranging' from 25° to 30° ; the inhabitants conse- 
quently pass the evenings seated in the streets, 
to breathe the fresh air, and to escape the stings 
of the mosquitoes. The sky is constantly cloudy, 
and scarcely a day passes without showers ; the 
nights, on the contrary are beautifully clear and 
truly delicious. It is then, a great pleasure to 
promenade the streets, and observe the lively par- 
ties which present themselves before the doors 
of the houses. Loud bursts of laughter are 
heard on every side, in which the passenger takes 
part without the least ceremony. Far from this 
familiarity being offensive, it gives great satis- 
faction, for the frankest cordiality presides at 
these meetings. Thus passes the life of the in- 
habitants of Monpox ; the day is spent in their 
hammocks, the night in the street, and nothing 
would trouble their peaceable existence, were they 
not afflicted with goitres which disfigure them 
in a horrible manner ; without this infirmity, 
which usually attacks them at the age of thirty 
or forty, they would possess an agreeable figure, 
though indeed with less lively expression than 
the inhabitants of Carthagena, and with less of 
that soft-coloured tint which distinguishes the 
natives of Bogota. The manner of living of 
the people of Monpox, differs little from that 
which the inhabitants of the tierras calientas of 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



31 



South Amercai have adopted. — All classes have 
a destructive fondness for ardent spirits ;* ne- 
ve rtheless, the good folks of Monpox drink no- 
thing but water with their meals ; they are great 
eaters of pork, and to such an extent is their 
passion for pigs carried, that many females 
take a pleasure in feeding these disgusting ani- 
mals, and teaching them to follow, like so many 
dogs. 4 
The delays which I experienced from the 
fetes with which they celebrated the taking of 
Santa Martha from the Spaniards, terminated on 
the 27th. ; but the moment of my departure was 
marked by many untoward accidents. I had en- 
gaged six boatmen, but only five made their 
appearance ; one of them, as I was informed, had 
been taken ill, and had spent part of the money 
I had paid him in advance. — My piragua was 
caulked with the fat of the cayman, and it was 
consequently impossible to sleep without running 
the risk of being poisoned by the infectious odour 
it exhaled. They procured me another ; it 
wanted refitting, which was soon accomplished ; 
but when we had got a little up the river, the 
water penetrated in such quantities, as obliged 
us to make for the shore as fast as we could. 
At last the obliging disposition of one of the 

* They divide the day into different portions consecrated to 
drinking 1 , which they stile, las siete, las onze 9 las dos, las 
quatro f Sfc. Sfc. so that, before night, each man has emptied 
his bottle of brandy. 



32 



TRAVELS IN THE 



inhabitants who lent me his piragua, enabled me 
to start by the middle of the day. These an- 
noyances I mention only to give some idea of the 
impediments that arrest the progress of every 
traveller in Spanish America. 

At every instant my bogas were stopping at 
the foot of the habitations which cover the isle 
on which Monpox is built. These dwellings, 
the plantations of banana-trees, and the light 
built barks returning from fishing, or carrying 
to the town the produce of their soil, so much 
animate this part of the river, that one would 
believe one had left the Magdalena, so mournfully 
distinguished for its frightful solitudes, and had 
entered upon the stream of some richly cultivated 
country. 

We halted at night at a village called Mar- 
garita, for the purpose of procuring a boga, as a 
substitute for the one who had fallen sick; I 
was shewn a strong young man, but it was not 
without difficulty that I could persuade him to 
follow me, when he found that they were ne- 
groes who had come with me from Monpox ; so 
much was he prejudiced against them. 

The next day we passed Guam a, situated 
upon the shore of Santa Martha, and in the 
evening we ran the piragua upon a bank of 
sand, an asylum where henceforth I was accus- 
tomed to pass my nights. 

I had come to some unpleasant explanations 
with my watermen, who dissatisfied with labour- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



33 



ing until the close of the day, had talked of 
quitting me., but I succeeded partly by menaces, 
more by promises in appeasing them. This 
mutinous disposition of theirs is certainly not 
very encouraging, for they frequently abandon the 
traveller when they are discontented with too 
rigorous a service, and take refuge in the first 
inhabited place they come to, where they are sure 
of finding friends and protectors. 

At five o'clock in the morning we passed 
below Penon, and after having stopped a few 
moments in this village, came in sight of 
Banko : about mid-day we discovered Sierra- 
Ocana. 

From an excess of zeal, or perhaps from the 
restlessness occasioned by the bites of the mos- 
quitoes, the bogas sang their hymn to the Virgin, 
aud set off again at midnight. By five we had 
passed Regidor, and at seven o'clock, leaving upon 
our right that branch of the Magdalena which 
leads to Ocana, we entered upon that of Mo- 
rales. At Rio-Viejo I found the heat much less 
than at Monpox ; the sky continually charged 
with vapours, had a different tint from that of 
the plains. We were already within the in- 
fluence of the Cordilleras, and I was much sur- 
prised at finding the cocoa and palm trees, in a 
country nearly temperate, upon the banks of a 
mild and tranquil river, and in a deep and 
black earthj while every where else they are 

D 



TRAVELS IN THE 

only to be met with upon the sandy borders of 
the sea. 

By eight o'clock, the next day, we reached 
Morales, a large village shaded by cocoa trees 
and situated upon an island of the same name ; 
the neighbouring country produces a great quan- 
tity of palm wine. The white population of this 
place have established some inns, constructed 
of hurdles of bamboos, in order that the light 
and air may penetrate them, and containing two 
or three benches with some bull's -hides stretched 
upon wooden frames for beds. 

Stopping no longer at Morales than w T as 
necessary to purchase some provisions, we soon 
discovered the mountains on which Zimitri 
elevates itself upon one of the branches of the 
Magdalena, which unites itself to that of Mo- 
rales near this place. 

On the first of February we were in sight of 
Vadillo, by six o'clock in the morning, and 
at intervals I perceived some isolated cot- 
tages. I stopped at several, being desirous of 
studying the people who inhabit the borders of 
the Magdalena ; and I particularly remarked that 
they live concentrated in a family, and seem to 
shun every other sort of society. 

Bogas advanced in years, who, weary 
of navigating the river, have become desi- 
rous of leaving the fruits of their painful la- 
bours to their children, with some enfranchised 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



35 



slaves and deserters belonging to all races or 
rather to all colours, have established them- 
selves upon these unwholesome shores ; but, 
though leading such isolated lives, with respect 
to one another, they have not entirely renounced 
the society of men. Boats and piraguas fre- 
quently stop near their dwellings, and pur- 
chase the surplus of their crops ; yet, notwith- 
standing the vegetable production is very abun- 
dant, so many bananas are demanded for a single 
dollar, that they cannot procure sufficient to 
supply themselves with clothes. 

These people are therefore very poor, and 
exceedingly unhappy, since out of the ten pla- 
gues of Egypt, they have at least five ; — the 
putridity of the water — ulcers—reptiles — large 
flies — and the death of their eldest born ; in fact, 
they rear their children with great difficulty. 
If nature, however, has thus poisoned the air 
respired by the inhabitant of the banks of the 
Magdalena, and tainted the pleasures he tastes, 
if she has filled the place in which he lives 
with poisonous animals, she has every where 
spread around the healing plants of which, he 
well knows the use, and which alleviate his evils 
if they do not entirely cure them. 

The solitary families which people the borders 
of this river, are usually composed of the husband, 
the wife and two or three children ; it is very rare 
indeed that any old people are to be found. The 

d 2 



36 



TRAVELS IN THE 



evils which these people suffer in common 
with all the mixed breeds between the tropics 
shorten the duration of life considerably. The 
Arabs, the Indians, and the Negroes, when 
they are not obliged to work too hard, are never 
ill/ 

The houses in which these poor creatures 
dwell, are formed of reeds and bamboos, and are 
generally erected in the midst of some spreading 
woods, where they content themselves with clear- 
ing a little spot for planting some bananas*, 
sugar-canes, cocoa-nut trees, ananas, papayas, 
and pinuntas, with some flowers to ornament the 
heads of the women. 

♦The wood which surrounds the house, is 
not an inextricable labyrinth, for it abounds 
in paths, known only to the proprietor. 
Through them he pursues those animals, to 
their distant retreats, which not long since, 
prowled near the site of his dwelling, or 
makes his way to his field of maize, which is 
always out of the reach of inundations. There 
often he fells his piragua, or cuts down the 
rafters of his cabin ; and without any other help 
than what is afforded by rollers, when his 
work is completed conveys it to the banks of 
the river. 

* The bananas are the manna of the Americans ; when green, 
they boil them ; and when ripe, they are a very sweet fruit, 
which they roast and eat with much pleasure. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



37 



Twelve fowls compose his barn-yard, and 
he is considered a happy man, if he can in- 
crease this stock, with a cow, or even a pig; 
but he seldom possesses the means, and his sole 
support is bananas, fish, and sometimes game. 
Two or three dogs trained to the chase, with 
some cats, devour the remains of his frugal 
meat. He generally possesses a cylinder, to manu- 
facture guarapo, a syrup of fermented sugar, 
and a frame for weaving of mats, with some nets, 
darts, and shells of the turtle, which at one time 
serve for plates, and another for seats ; to this 
list of his utensils may be added, a hatchet, a 
sabre, some calabashes, and earthen pipkins, and 
he is considered as a very careful, provident 
man, if his store contains a few pieces of smoke- 
dried meat, and a few jars filled with maize. 

The life of the inhabitant of the Magdalena, 
is not one of inactivity, depending solely upon him- 
self, he expects no aid from society, and all must 
be provided by his care ; he ought to be simul- 
taneously an architect, a hunter, a fisher, and a 
clever workman. Sometimes he traverses the 
woods in pursuit of the jaguar, which perhaps 
has deprived him of one of his dogs, and at other 
times, embarks upon the stream, to pierce 
the fish with his darts or enclose them in his 
nets. Thus he is never at rest ; nor are these 
all his cares, when the overflowing of the 
river inundates his plantations, he is seen se- 



38 



TRAVELS IN THE 



curing his piragua to the trees of his garden, 
and embarking all his family ; then along those 
paths, which a few days before he had been 
chasing the deer, he conducts them to his field 
of maize, and hastily erects some covering to 
protect them from the torrents of rain. 

The husband does not always alone support 
the burthen of the labours of his family; his 
wife sometimes shares them with him. She works 
in the fields, and accompanying her husband 
a-fishing, she steers his little bark. Afflicting 
wants often discourage the souls of these un- 
fortunate beings. The father falls the victim 
of long infirmities, the infant, of the evils which 
belong to early life, and a raging fever cuts off 
the mother of the family ; thus the miseries which 
they undergo in procuring a subsistance, are 
heightened by the sorrows of final separation. 
Unable to live alone, the man allots a few months 
to the griefs of widowhood, then descends the 
river in his piragua, and presents himself at some 
village to offer to some new spouse his many 
fatigues and privations, but with them a heart 
which is wholly hers. 

For many days past the mountains had made 
their appearance to the west, and the number 
of the caymans visibly diminished : this circum- 
stance indicated that the heat was less ardent, 
though the temperature was still so great, that 
we always halted at noon, and passed some time 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



39 



under the natural shelters that were formed over 
the river by the majestic ceibas, and various 
other trees of thick foliage. 

Although our piragua was very large, being 
about 48 feet long, we took care whenever 
we stopped to draw it up upon the land, and 
in that situation took our repose with more 
tranquillity. If the left bank of the river had 
been less embarrassed with the trunks of trees, 
the plantations of bananas which cover it, would 
have induced us to coast along it ; but we should 
have been exposed to so many dangers, that 
we determined keeping upon the right. Amidst 
the solitudes of these waters we encountered a 
luggage boat laden with soldiers, who were 
descending the river to the mournful sound of 
an Indian flute. Upon leaving Vadillo, we ar- 
rived at the common boundary of the provinces 
of Santa- Martha and Cundinamarca, and a sur- 
prising change in the appearance of the country 
forced itself upon our attention ; for bananas 
and cocoa trees were every where to be seen, 
and I experienced an infinite satisfaction, at 
finding these traces of the labours of man in places 
which seemed exclusively the patrimony of fe- 
rocious animals. 

At five o'clock, we passed through the Bocca- 
Rosario, so they call a part of the river where 
it is extremely confined, and consequently flows 
with great rapidity. At eight, when we were 



40 



TRAVELS IN THE 



established as usual upon our bank of sand, I 
said to myself : it is now midnight at Paris and 
nearly all my countrymen are also taking their 
repose ; but, fatigued with a thousand varied 
pleasures, and feasted with exquisite dainties, 
they refresh themselves on beds of down ; vigi- 
lant guards insure their safety ; winter and 
the industry of man protect them from the my- 
riads of insects with which I am devoured; — it 
freezes with them, yet they enjoy a comfortable 
warmth, while I, but a few degrees from the line, 
am almost perished with cold.— 

We still continued to struggle against the 
current of the river, which increased in rapidity 
in proportion as we approached its source ; 
this velocity of the stream was also occasioned 
by the promontories which, from place to place, 
arrested its course : these projections of the land, 
were particularly remarkable by the brilliant 
colours of the different strata disposed in regu- 
lar beds. The day having been passed in great 
exertion, we stopped at five o'clock opposite San 
Pablo. 

In the evening, I ascended the banks of the 
river, entered the village and paid a visit to the 
alcaid. A field of bananiers, a piragua for 
fishing, some dogs for hunting, an indifferent 
fowling piece, and two hammocks composed 
all his wealth ; a pair of drawers, a linen shirt 
and a straw hat all his stock of clothing. He 



REPUBLIC OP COLOMBIA. 



41 



walked bare-foot, but nevertheless enjoyed in 
the village every imaginable prerogative : for, in 
fact, besides the right of hearing and determi- 
ning causes, in the same manner as our justices 
of the peace, it was his office to regulate the 
weights and measures, than which nothing could 
be more arbitrary ; a parcel of stones, whose value 
is perfectly conventional, serves as weights, while 
the scales are made of two calabashes often very 
unequal.— It is also his duty to levy the taxes 
and conscriptions. 

Notwithstanding the necessity which we ex- 
perienced in this frightful navigation of frequently 
bathing on account of the heat occasioned by the 
sun, by the bites of the mosquitoes, and the num- 
ber of men crowded together in so small a space, 
I began to take this exercise with less pleasure 
after we got at some distance from Morales. — In- 
deed, both the air and the water were extremely 
cold, and I experienced a disagreeable sensation 
every time I went into the river.— This was not 
the only change I remarked in these higher parts 
of the stream : the sky was so continually covered 
with clouds that we seldom got a sight of the 
moon. — We no longer experienced those resplen- 
dent nights of the tropics in which the light was 
almost as brilliant as that of the day. On the 
contrary, the su mmits of the high mou ntains, which 
surrounded us, were so envelloped in vapours as to 
be entirely hidden from our view. Thus, in spite of 



42 



TRAVELS IN THE 



the zealous efforts of my bogas we seldom proceed- 
ed during the night, and even in the forenoon the 
fogs were frequently so thick, that it was with 
difficulty we could distinguish objects at two 
boats length from our piragua. On the other 
hand, the greater mildness of the temperature, 
produced an effect upon the productions of na- 
ture, that were by far more agreeable to the eyes 
of an European. In fact, the ground was better 
covered, and more variegated ; the most bril- 
liant flowers spread themselves over the banks 
of the river, and amidst them the maravilla 
formed garlands of the most splendid purple. — 
The trees were stronger though less elevated, and 
being fixed in the earth by deeper roots, a less 
number of trunks impeded the navigation of the 
river. I had above all an opportunity of contem- 
plating the lofty summit of Barbacoa ; but the 
recollection of the battles fought there by the 
Spaniards and the Independents destroyed all its 
charm, by reflecting that the pure and limpid 
streams which wash its base had been polluted 
with blood, and that, in these delicious solitudes 
visited once only by men, they met but for mu- 
tual destruction. 

On the 7th February we saw St. Bartholo- 
mew on our right : a bad road leads from this 
village to the province of Antioquia ; we were 
now soon amid the dark and muddy waters, which 
a neighbouring stream brings in tribute to the 



REPUBLIC OP COLOMBIA. 



43 



Magdalena, and whose fetid odour indicates its un- 
healthy quality. Quitting these pestilential waves, 
we had to double a promontory called Remolino 
Grande ; the waters here precipitate themselves 
with a violence dangerous for boats, which do 
not always insure their safety by occasionally 
grappling to the rocks, branches and roots which 
are found along its banks ; passing all these 
dangers in safety, we arrived before night-fall at 
Garapata. The inhabitants of this hamlet have 
the reputation of being very patriotic. By vir- 
tue of this, my bogas were desirous of establish- 
ing a system of agrarian law, which did not at 
all meet the views of the citizens of Garapata, 
who were obliged to be on the alert all night, 
and watch the motions of my sailors. The latter 
indeed, drawing the inference from their politi- 
cal logic, insisted upon being furnished gratis 
with fowls, oranges, bananas and even salt. 
" Between friends and brothers," said they, " all 
should be had in common." The principle was 
not admitted. Upon which, changing their sys- 
tem, they unknown to me threatened the inhabi- 
tants with the whole weight of my indignation, 
which with these poor wretches was not an idle 
menace, as I had been made to pass for an officer 
of the republic. — By this stratagem, my bogas 
succeeded in obtaining many necessaries. 

We were now to cross the Angustura, a very 
dangerous strait. Our first care was to twist two 



44 



TRAVELS IN THE 



or three ropes into one, next to examine the pi- 
ragua, and repair the damage it had received near 
Garapata, and lastly to take on board fresh poles. 
When all was ready we pushed off shore, and in 
a short time were at the foot of the Angustura. 
This rock is very lofty, and as it projects far into 
the river narrows it considerably. It was not 
without anxiety we found ourselves in the midst 
of the breakers, where our poles only could be 
of service to us. The banks of the river are 
so steep, that no means of grappling are any 
where to be found. When the water is low, 
the sailors go with much difficulty and fasten 
their rope to some tree at a great distance, and by 
this means escape the danger of being carried 
away by the impetuosity of the current. There 
were formerly at Angustura men stationed to 
verify the passports of travellers ; they were at 
the same time provided with all that was neces- 
sary in case of an accident ; at present nothing of 
the kind exists. 

The river at the Angustura is very limpid, 
but the moment this dangerous strait is passed, 
its waters become again yellow and murky. At 
a short distance we perceived Nare, to which I 
soon ascended. Nare is one of the most impor- 
tant villages of Magdalena. Situated at the dis- 
tance of five days' journey from Medellin, it has 
become the most frequented port of the rich pro- 
vince of Antioquia. Couriers, merchants and 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



45 



travellers, all stop there, and cause much bustle 
and activity. In short it is the entrepot of the 
cocoas of Magdalena, forthe regions of the western 
Cordilleras, the cocoas being here exchanged for 
the gold worked in these mountains. The river, 
which bears the name of Nare, is a canal very 
commodious forthe transport of merchandize into 
the interior of the country. 



46 



TRAVELS IN THE 



CHAPTER III. 

Branch of the Magdalena — The Miel — Rio Negro — Guarunio — The Pro- 
montory of Garderia — The Rocks of Perico — Honda — Description of 
the Mag-dalena, 

On our departure from Nare, we directed our 
course towards the right bank of the river ; 
and hardly had we entered one of its branches^ 
which is called the Tiger, than we lost no time 
in looking' out for some place of shelter ; for the 
sky was overcast with clouds, the sure presage 
of a storm, and we were anxious to arrive 
at some habitation before being overtaken 
by the night. Both banks of the river were 
thickly covered with trees, and we almost de- 
spaired of being able to discover any sandy 
bank upon which we might land, when we per- 
ceived a cabin upon the right in the midst of the 
bushes. Our piragua was quickly pushed towards 
this asylum, and displacing a canoe which was 
fastened to some reeds, my bogas substituted 
ours in its place. As soon as we were securely 
moored in this harbour, we all jumped on shore, 
armed completely as if going to take some for- 
tified place by storm ; and rapidly ascending the 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



47 



steps, which were unequally cat out of the bank of 
the river, quickly reached the top. 

Before us, in a court-yard surrounded with 
bananas, we perceived a sort of shed elevated 
upon stakes, on which we found a linen bed 
spread upon a bamboo frame; here and there 
were a few calabashes ; in one corner were the 
remains of a fire, and some slices of meat were 
hung up to dry ; the whole was in a state of such 
disorder, as plainly indicated the fright that 
our appearance had occasioned to the proprietor 
of this habitation ; — every thing was open to our 
free inspection, for there were neither walls, nor 
even mats to form an inclosure to this miserable 
cabin. 

Our visit had not taken place without 
exciting the plaintive howlings of some dogs 
that guarded the house, to which the master 
was some time before he paid any attention ; 
at last he suddenly came forward from one of 
the thickest parts of the wood that surrounded 
and shaded his dwelling. He presented himself 
before us with an air of anxiety which did not 
escape the notice of the pilot of our party, who 
took advantage of it to demand some refresh- 
ment, which was quickly prepared for him. 
Not contented with this civility, he asked our 
host, in an arrogant manner, " Are you not 
a Spaniard t" which the other denied in so 
feeble a manner, as to increase the audacity of 



48 



TRAVELS IN THE 



the sailor, who thenceforth, in spite of all my 
intreaties, left him no peace from his impor- 
tunities. 

The storm forced us to sup all together 
under the roof of our entertainer, whose restless 
vigilance was not contented with obliging his 
family to pass the night in the woods, but also 
prevented him from taking the least repose. Fie 
remained outside the hut like a centinel to watch 
our motions, and to resist, as much as possible, 
the violence of my bogas. With how many cares 
did this intrusion of ours poison the hitherto 
peaceful life of this solitary man ! Plow little 
could he have supposed, that in hiding himself 
upon one of the scattered arms of the Magda- 
len a, his roof continually exposed to the winds 
and storms, would afford shelter to guests 
equally as dangerous ! — Such an event would pro- 
bably induce him to establish his retreat amidst 
the dens of the jaguars, whose repose he, in his 
turn, would thus destroy, to afford him some 
assurance of his own tranquillity. 

Our fatigues commenced the next day, but 
we discovered nothing remarkable until five 
o'clock, when our attention was taken by a 
strong smell of musk. My bogas attributed it 
to the odour of a serpent, but none of us were 
tempted to examine whether the conjecture was 
true : if it could have been done without the 
dread of any dangerous encounter, we should 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



49 



have been tempted to make some stay in this 
place : it was an isle where the soil, continually 
fertilized by the inundations of the river, seemed 
to be more fruitful than elsewhere. The ceibas 
were more elevated and more majestic, and 
in place of guarumos, occupied by myriads of 
flies, of which the trunks thus destroyed incum- 
bered the navigation, one perceived bowers widely 
spread, which seemed to invite the traveller to 
repose himself from the heat of the sun. Here 
and there we observed with surprise several 
trees spread out exactly like a fan or an umbrella, 
similar to those which we meet with in ancient 
parks ; and thus, the playful sport of nature 
seemed to be the work of man. It was not how- 
ever in this charming place, perfumed with musk, 
that my bogas wished to stop, for they gave the 
preference to a bank of sand. 

This day, the 1st of February, we left, on 
our right, the river Miel, whose very cold and 
clear water invited us to fill several jars with it 
for the remainder of the voyage. Its value 
seemed to be much more precious, after having 
had no other drink than the yellow and muddy 
waters of the Magdalena. — At night we entered 
Buenavista. 

Early in the morning, we passed the mouth of 
the Rio Negro, which issues from the moun- 
tains of Zipaquira ; we then perceived Guarumo ; 

E 



50 



TRAVELS IN THE 



on the right bank of the river, in the middle of a 
wood of cocoa- trees. 

This hamlet seems destined to be much 
enlarged, if, as is proposed, the road of Bo- 
gota to the Magdalena should be conducted 
through it. Nature here becomes more barren, 
and the branches of the Cordilleras more con- 
tracted ; the river also gets narrower, and is 
filled with stones that roll from the tops of the 
mountains. The currents are here so rapid, that 
their violence is stemmed with great difficulty. 
Choaked up between heights covered with 
rocks, the Magdalena impetuously pours forth its 
waters through the narrow mouths which it has 
opened for itself ; and if nature did not break 
the violence of the shock, by the numerous 
angles which are presented by the projecting 
arms of the Cordilleras, it would be impossible 
to navigate the piraguas in the narrow valley 
through which the river runs, and which is but 
the declivity of the platform that stretches from 
Chaguanes to Neustra Senora de la Purificacion. 

The 13th afforded us but few observations ; 
before night, however, I was struck with the 
singular aspect presented by the Cape of Garderia. 
Similar to all t hose on the banks of the Magdalena, 
it is as perpendicular as a wall, and is composed 
of three separate layers of clay, forming angles 
of lively and diversified colours. Enemies of 
trouble and noise, the caymans usually forsake 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



51 



the upper parts of the river ; but we found seve- 
ral at the foot of Garderia, whose peaceful 
waters accorded better with their habits. Herons, 
egrets, and other birds, the prey of these amphi- 
bious animals, occupy the top of this diversified 
hill. 

We soon lost view of the Cape of Garderia, 
and, from the darkness of the night, of the Cer- 
rania of Garapapi. Before noon, we reached 
Perico, formed of rocks, against which the water 
breaks with a roar, and returns back in waves of 
white foam, as on the borders of the sea. Not 
being able to use either the pole or the oar, a 
boga cast himself into the water, furnished with 
a rope, and, making the shore, fastened it to 
the trunk of a tree, that we might be enabled to 
tow the boat along. This manoeuvre was badly 
executed, for the cord broke, and the piragua 
was dashed in the midst of the rocks. The 
bogas that were with me, seeing this accident, 
plunged into the water, and saved themselves 
by swimming ; and, upon arriving ashore, cried 
out to me that the canoe was lost, and must 
be abandoned. Being unable to swim, I was 
obliged to cling to the boat, though it had over- 
set, and at every jolt I expected it would have 
been broken to pieces; this, however, was not 
the case, and I kept myself above water, which 
was happily rather shallow, for a little lower 
down I should certainly have been drowned. 

e 2 



52 



TRAVELS IN THE 



All my hopes, the fruit of six months labor 
and patience, were in this boat, and I should 
have been ruined if the things it contained had 
been lost, for I had no one to whom I could 
have addressed myself for help in the situation 
in which I should have been placed. — Pity is 
insensible to shipwrecks in a river, and laughs 
at the recital of the dangers there run. 

Deafened by the roaring of the waters and 
incensed by the cries of my fugitive boatmen, 
I leaped into the water which came up to my 
chin, and availing myself of an oar which I had 
seized at the moment of the accident, used it as 
a lever with which I lifted up the boat ; when 
the negroes saw me thus employed, they were 
surprised at my success, and animated by this 
sentiment afforded me their help, and by our 
united efforts we got the piragua once more 
afloat. I then placed myself in it, and my sailors 
swam to the bank, guiding the boat with an oar, 
through the middle of the rocks. 

As soon as we had arrived in safety ashore, 
we emptied the boat, and found she swam low 
in the water ; many of my effects were lost, and 
most of the rest were spoilt, but I was too happy 
in having escaped the danger that had menaced 
me, to take much interest about, this loss. I 
could not, however, forbear reproaching my 
negroes with their cowardly desertion of me : 
they were so much ashamed of it, that they could 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



53 



not answer a word. The sun soon dried the 
boat and we all entered it. But before setting out 
I took every necessary precaution to prevent a 
recurrence of our misfortune. Since the acci- 
dent of the morning I had obtained such an au - 
thority over my men, that I did as I thought pro- 
per with them. I arrived without any fresh di- 
saster at Honda, two-and-twenty leagues from 
Bogota. This town is situated in a confined 
valley, surrounded on all sides by mountains ; 
the heat is very suffocating. Two bridges must 
be crossed before entering it, the last one is 
thrown over the Guali, an impetuous torrent 
which falls into the Magdalena. These wooden 
bridges are boldly constructed upon broken 
pieces of rock that serve as piers, and which are 
thrown from the mountains by the force of earth- 
quakes. 

That which Honda experienced about fif- 
teen years ago, has left many traces of its rava- 
ges. Several houses, and even one church are 
still in ruins, but there yet remain some regular 
edifices. The streets, which are paved, are formed 
in a straight line ; and the place possesses some 
importance, because the boats which come from 
the maritime provinces stop here, and dispose 
of their cargoes that are hence forwarded into the 
interior of the country. A custom-house is esta- 
blished here. 

I now crossed the other bank of the Magda- 



54 



TRAVELS IN THE 



lena to get to the road which leads to the capi- 
tal an d congratulated myself in being able, at 
last, to bid adieu to my boatmen whom I has- 
tened to discharge. 

I was hospitably entertained at the dwel- 
ling of a custom-house officer, by whose advice 
I made a bargain with some muleteers, who had 
the charge of a consignment of tobacco, on ac- 
count of the government. Our arrangements 
were soon completed, and being able to depend 
upon having their mules, I proposed availing 
myself of the opportunity of pursuing my jour- 
ney as early as the following day. 

The Magdalen a issues from the lake of Pa- 
pas, in latitude l°5'north and longitude 14° west, 
and in almost all its course flows along the 
same meridian. The Cauca, whose sources are 
beyond those of the Magdalena, would offer the 
same advantages for navigation as this river, 
did not its bed gradually become narrower as it 
approaches the place of confluence with the Mag- 
dalena; a circumstance which renders the course 
of the Cauca in many parts dangerous and im- 
practicable. The Magdalena, on the contrary, 
becomes wider as it recedes from its source. 

Nature seems to have designedly dug the 
bed of the Magdalena in the midst of the Cor- 
dilleras of Columbia, to form a canal of com- 
munication between the mountains and the sea ; 
yet, it would have made nothing but an unnavi- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



55 



gable torrent, had it not stopped its course in 
many parts, by masses of rock disposed in such 
a manner as to break its violence. Its waters 
thus arrested, flow gently into the plains of 
the provinces of Santa-Martha and Cartha- 
gena, which they fertilize and refresh by their 
evaporation. Three very distinct temperatures 
reign on the Magdalen a : the sea breezes blow 
from its mouth as far as Monpox ; from this town 
to Morales not a breath of air tempers the heat 
of the atmosphere, and a man would become a 
victim to its power, but for the abundant dews 
which fall during the night from Morales as far as 
v the sources of the Magdalena; the south wind 
moderates the heat of the day and forms the third 
temperature. It is these land breezes which cause 
the navigation of the Magdalena to be rarely 
fatal to Europeans. But though man's exist- 
ence is not here in immediate peril, he himself 
does not, on the other hand, enjoy a moment's 
repose ; along the whole of this river a multi- 
tude of insects wage a distressing war against 
him. Mosquitoes near the sea, and up the coast 
a small species of fly, cover him with their 
venomous stings, and when he enters into a 
cooler region, enormous flies called tabanos glut 
themselves with his blood. 

Should he wish to bathe, he fears being de- 
voured by caymans, and if he venture on shore, he 
often has to dread the poison of serpents. Nothing 



56 



TRAVELS IN THE 



is therefore more alarming- than a voyage on the 
Magdalena. Even the sight is rarely gratified , 
for the fertile banks of this river, which ought 
to be covered with cocoa trees, sugar canes, 
coffee, cotton, indigo and tobacco ; those banks 
which should present the thirsty traveller with 
the delicious fruits of the tropics, and be adorned 
with thousands of beauteous flowers, are covered 
with thick bushes, bind-weed, and thorns in 
the midst of which shoot up the cocoa and 
palm trees. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



57 



CHAPTER IV. 

Route from Honda to Bogota — Rio Seco — Venta Grande — Mountain of 
Sarj en to— -Valley of Guaduas — Billeta — Facatativia — Description of 
the plain of Bogota — Fall of Tequendama — Natural Bridge of Pandi. 

At an early hour on the 15th of February I took 
leave of my obliging host. After traversing a 
very thick wood, we kept continually on the 
ascent till we arrived at a spot from which a pros- 
pect truly magnificent burst upon our view ; the 
whole province of Maraquita lay before us, its 
mountains appearing from the place where we 
stood, but as insignificant hillocs : we could 
however distinguish the white houses of Mara- 
quita.* Much nearer to us lay the town of 
Honda, the walls of which are washed by the 
Magdalena, whose verdant banks impart peculiar 
beauty to the surrounding landscape. One would 
have supposed it to have been the Seine meand- 
ring through the rich meadows of Normandy. 
This beautiful sight however soon vanished as 
I again struck into the wood, through the breaks 
of which the Magdalena appeared only a narrow 

* Almost all the inhabitants of this town are afflicted with 
goitres. 



58 



TRAVELS IN THE 



stream of water, which, in a short time, was seen 
no more. We once more recommenced our 
ascent, and although I could not view without 
shuddering the terrific steepness of the Cordilleras, 
which I was traversing for the first time in my 
life, my fears were considerably diminished when 
I remarked the intelligence of the mule which 
bore me. It was truly astonishing to observe 
the sagacity with which the animal chose the 
rocks that afforded the surest footing. The mule- 
teers have an excellent method of treating these 
animals : in these dangerous passes, they strike 
them but very seldom, encourage them by their 
voice, and support them behind when, climbing 
from rock to rock, they appear as if they would 
be precipitated every moment into the depths 
below. We crossed the Rio Seco, stopped a few 
moments at a venta, and continued crossing 
numerous streams which intersect the road in 
every direction ; at length, we arrived at the 
Venta Grande. The inns of the Cordilleras exact- 
ly resemble those of Morales ; if nothing is to be 
had, you have but little to pay. 

The next day, we had to scale the Sarjento, 
nor have 1 yet forgotten the labour and fatigue 
it cost me. Suddenly enveloped in a cold damp 
fog, so thick as to prevent my distinguishing the 
men who were before me, we were, for a time, 
in complete darkness, and I was seized with 
that extreme lassitude and uneasiness, the 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



59 



usual concomitants of this phenomenon so fre- 
quent in the Cordilleras. Towards noon the 
fog" cleared off, and a few moments afterwards, 
we met with a stone on which was inscribed, 
the elevation of the ground above the level of the 
sea. We were at a height of 870 toises, and had 
still eighteen leagues to perform before we ar- 
rived at Santa-Fe. The roads now improved, 
and we soon reached the summit of a mountain, 
whence we perceived the beautiful valley of 
Guaduas. 

I was extremely gratified upon descending 
to find myself in the midst of verdant meadows, 
every where intersected by streams, over which 
were thrown narrow but safe bridges. On my 
right and left were houses, surrounded by culti- 
vation and shaded by willows, while numerous 
flocks of well fed cattle were peaceably grazing- the 
rich pasture ; the heat was moderate, being about 
the temperature of that of the Island of Madeira. 
We were now at an elevation in which man can 
enjoy his existence, so that by a descent of not 
more than 223 toises, nature assumed an aspect 
entirely different to that which we had observed 
on the heights we traversed in the morning. 

The road being level, and in good order, I 
soon arrived at Guaduas. This town appeared 
to me very clean, some of its streets are paved 
and furnished with trot loirs, the square in which 
the church and other edifices stand, is ornamented 



60 



TRAVELS IN THE 



with a fountain, and the outsides of the houses 
being whitewashed, the appearance of the town 
is very cheerful. It is difficult for the traveller 
who has just toiled over the immense mountains 
of granite, which separate Guaduas from Magda- 
lena, not to feel a degree of ecstasy upon sud- 
denly finding himself in a valley, whose tem- 
perature is so mild, which is watered by limpid 
streams, and enriched with all the gifts of nature ; 
gifts which man, however, neglects to improve 
or even to avail himself of. 

To the Eu ropean who has recently left the shores 
of theMagdalena, the fair complexions of the inha- 
bi tan ts of this delightful spot, are particularly pleas- 
ing. He cannot but admire the native grace of the 
female villagers and the artful simplicity of their 
rustic dresses in which, perhaps, there is somewhat 
too much of affectation. It cannot be denied, 
however, that the American paysannes everywhere 
excel ours in the facility with which they acquire 
agreeable and fascinating manners ; their delicate 
and beautifully turned limbs are never enlarged, 
nor deformed by labour. Happy in living under 
so beautiful a climate, the inhabitants of Guaduas 
treat strangers with great kindness, of which 
I had a sufficient proof on my arrival, for they 
appeared delighted at having an opportunity of 
exercising their hospitality. 

Guaduas forms a canton composed of seven 
villages, the population of which may amount 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



61 



to about fourteen thousand souls. The greater 
part of the lands belong to Senor Acosta, the 
civil judge of the canton, whose hospitality and 
benevolent disposition are universal themes of 
panegyric. The produce of this country consists 
of rice, bananas, coffee, oranges, and sugar, of 
the latter article, the yearly crop is said to 
amount to 40,000 arrobas. At the distance of 
three days' journey from Guaduas is Palma, a 
village containing gold, iron, and emerald mines, 
which it is intended to work. 

The next day, we discovered Billetta, at an 
immense distance ; the view of it is very pleasing. 
This town suffers much from heat, its elevation 
above the sea not being more than 583 toises. 
At night, we perceived a cross, the sign of a 
venta, situated 908 toises above the level of the 
Ocean. 

Notwithstanding our anxiety to arrive at 
Bogota the next day, we only got as far as 
Facatativa, by noon ; but we had now reached 
the famous plateau of Bogota. Another spectacle 
totally different to any I had before seen now 
presented itself to me. I again found myself 
in Europe. Upon quitting Facatativa, I suffered 
considerably from the dust which the wind raises 
in clouds, and which begrimes the complexion 
of the inhabitants. I however got free from 
it before night, and could indulge at my ease 
the pleasure mingled with astonishment which 



62 



TRAVELS IN THE 



I felt at seeing the husbandmen occupied in 
tracing- deep furrows, with ploughs drawn by 
oxen, and shepherds driving before them flocks 
of sheep covered like those in our country with 
thick fleeces. While contemplating a scene, 
which so forcibly recalled Europe to my recol- 
lection, my attention was called off by long 
files of mules and oxen laden with grain, coals, 
and sacks of apples, and others coming from 
Guaduas, carrying oranges, and tropical fruits. 
The drivers had a wild and savage appearance, 
a little opposed to the European character of 
the surrounding landscape ; I could even have 
imagined myself suddenly removed to the pla- 
teaus of Tartary upon seeing these Indians, whose 
bodies almost naked, offered many points of 
resemblance with the inhabitants of Eastern 
Asia. 

Above ten French leagues separate Facata- 
tiva from Bogota. I was compelled to travel 
all night. The cold was very severe, and I suf- 
fered considerably from it. I did not arrive at 
Bogota till four o'clock in the morning, on the 
20th February. 

The plain of Bogota, situated in latitude 4°. 
30' north, at an elevation of 1370 toises above the 
level of the sea, extends sixteen leagues from 
north to south, and eight from east to west. 
This plateau, surrounded by lofty mountains, 
presents a surface almost uniformly level. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



63 



The plain of Bogota underwent many dread- 
ful revolutions, before its inhabitants, the Mos- 
cas, subjected to one master, had formed a 
nation united by the same worship. The old 
men, upon being questioned by the Spaniards, 
who had conquered their country, informed 
them, that, at a very remote period, the river 
Funza (Bogota) had overflowed all the plain ; 
and that, seized with affright, the inhabitants 
fled to the mountains, where they found a secure 
asylum ; that, in the midst of this frightful dis- 
order, a holy man appeared, whose name was 
Zhue, or Bochica ; that, with his wand, he struck 
the hardest of the mountains, which immediately 
opened, and the waters rushing through the mira- 
culous issue, formed the celebrated fall of Te- 
quendama. This popnlar tradition refers to a 
period when the waters entirely covered the whole 
plain of Bogota. Nothing is now seen in this 
place but numerous streams, some ponds, and 
two rivers, the Commun, and the Bogota or 
Funza. 

It is indeed, in the plain of Bogota, that 
the traveller finds that new Europe announced 
to him at Honda when overcome with fa- 
tigue ; he has no longer cause to fear either the 
wild beasts or the insects which desolate the 
countries watered by the Magdalena : upon these 
heights the cold is fatal to them. But if man 
does not run the same dangers here as in the 



64 



TRAVELS IN THE 



lower region, he sometimes suffers much by 
being suddenly transported into a climate, the 
temperatute of which rarely exceeds 12°, R. ; for 
the plain of Bogota is rather sobered by a perpe- 
tual autumn, than enlivened by the aspect of 
spring. 

Apple-trees and willows are the only ones 
which grow in this plain ; but if the larger vege- 
tables droop at this altitude, those of Ceres are in 
uncommon abundance, all the lands are covered 
with barley, corn, oats, and excellent pastures. 
It is a sight truly wonderful, to find a country as 
rich and fertile as that of Beauce, at an eleva- 
tion which, in Europe, is covered with perpetual 
snows, and where man finds it difficult to exist. 

I did not experience the same admiration 
as other stringers at the sight of kitchen and 
flower gardens in some spots of the plains of Bo- 
gota ; for, in fact, if it should create astonish- 
ment to find near the equator the vegetables and 
fruits of Europe, the colour and the flavour of 
these productions prove that the heat of these 
cantons is insufficient to bring them to maturity. 
The roses and pinks lose likewise all their charm, 
when it is known that their perfume cannot be 
inhaled for a moment without the organ of scent 
suffering violent agony from the stings of myriads 
of imperceptible insects lodged in their petals. 

Notwithstanding these inconveniences, which 
may in time be obviated by more experienced 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



65 



cultivators, it must be confessed, that the plain 
of Bogota, from its elevation, extent, and pro- 
digious fecundity, surpasses what the most vivid 
imagination can conceive of the beautiful. 

At the end of a few days I fell ill, the ge- 
neral fate of strangers on their arrival at Bo- 
gota. My greatest inconvenience was, not being 
able to leave the house ; but my health gra- 
dually re established itself. The first essay 
made of my strength, by training myself for 
future journeys, was to visit the fall of Tequen- 
dama, which is but four leagues from Bogota, 
and which, on account of the wonders related of 
it, is visited by all strangers. I, in consequence, 
set forward in the month of April, accompanied 
by two inhabitants of Bogota. We directed our 
course towards the south-west. The road was tole- 
rably pleasant as far as Soacha, a village at which 
travellers generally pass the night, and in the 
neighbourhood of which are found the fossil 
remains of elephants. The inn resembles our 
country public-houses, which is wonderful in this 
country. 

The next day, after having coasted the peace- 
ful Bogota, we crossed it upon a bridge made of 
rushes, on the other side of which we found the 
farm of Canoa ; we then commenced an ascent 
by a road so slippery, that our horses could no 
longer keep their footing. 

Till then, we had travelled in a plain partly 

F 



66 



TRAVELS IN THE 



inundated, bounded on all sides by arid moun- 
tains, and having barren hills scattered upon 
it like islands in the midst of a lake. We were 
now traversing a country entirely new, covered 
with lofty trees, the sight of which was very 
gratifying to us. We were no longer annoyed by 
the gloomy prospect of the black rocks sur- 
rounding the plain of Bogota ; on the contrary, 
on every side were seen vallies, fertile mountains, 
and little houses embedded in the midst of plan- 
tations of bananas, whose verdure, softer to the 
eye, relieved in the most agreeable manner the 
deeper green of the forests. 

In the midst of the pleasure afforded us 
by this view, we saw with anxiety the summits 
of the mountains hid in the clouds, which were 
rapidly descending towards the places where 
they are converted into storm and rain. We 
therefore urged on our horses. 

In striking into the marshy woods, which 
over-shadow the famous fall of Tequendama, 
our horses became useless to us, and were fast- 
ened to trees. With the assistance of sticks, 
we descended the muddy paths by which the 
wood- cutters make their oxen drag up the wood 
which they sell in the town. The noise of the 
fall was heard, but nothing could be seen. After 
many windings and turnings, we at length found 
we had lost our way ; not a soul was to be seen 
who could set us right. At length, one of us 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



67 



fortunately perceived a path;, the steep descent of 
which was rendered more practicable by steps 
made with branches. This rough piece of work- 
manship led him to hope that men were to 
be met with. He descended, but at first dis- 
covered nothing but a stream and a cavern. He 
was about to re-ascend, when, to his great sur- 
prise, he saw a man appear at the entrance of 
the cavern, who offered to serve as our guide, 
upon learning our embarrassment. The cavern 
was a mine dug under the rocks at a great ex- 
pense, where a few pounds of pit-coal was daily 
obtained with vast labour. There was only a 
narrow passage excavated, and no attempt had 
been made to blast the rock . 

We were farther from the fall than we had 
imagined, and, at the risk of sinking a hundred 
times in the mud, we arrived before Tequen- 
dama. Never did I experience such sensations 
as those caused me by the view of this cascade. I 
was at first so dazzled, that I could scarcely see 
the objects around me. I was wrapt in mute 
admiration at seeing the waters of the Bogota 
precipitate themselves in mass., over the rocks 
which they have crushed, like an avalanche de- 
tached from the top of Chimborazo. In order to 
observe the fall the more safely we laid our 

* Bolivar stood upright upon one of the rocks which bar 
the issues of the river. 



68 



TRAVELS IN THE 



selves down flat upon the rocky wall, forming the 
side of the precipice above which we were placed. 

Our eyes penetrated into the abyss without 
perceiving aught but waves of foam continually 
swallowed up in an ocean of vapour. We were 
in astonishment, and yet only perceived one part 
of this imposing spectacle, on account of the pro- 
found obscurity in which the haze enveloped us. 
We anxiously wished for a clearer sky. The 
waters of the river falling from the frozen heights 
of the Cordilleras into the foaming gulfs, hol- 
lowed out at their base, formed a thick fog, 
which, raised up by the sun, whose face it ob- 
scured, inundated us on all sides. 

We waited with impatience for the moment 
when we could admire this wonder of nature, 
which we had come so far to contemplate : it 
suddenly discovered itself, but only for a few 
instants. The clouds at length dissipating, we 
were enabled to take a rapid view of the pheno- 
menon of the fall. Measuring first the heights 
above as *, we saw, amid the palm-trees which 
cover that region, a rivulet (the Bogota) mean- 
dering through a region glowing with verdure, 
inhabited doubtless by animals of the torrid 
zone. Above these blooming fields, a projecting 
rock, against which the Bogota dashed itself, 
threw up the rivers foaming waves on high, 



* Seventy-eight toises in height, according to Salazar. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOiMBIA. 



69 



Jike two crystal columns completely detached 
from the vapours, which they continually pro- 
duce. The view in front of us was not less 
imposing : along the gigantic moun tains forming 
the opposite shore, several streams fell in cas- 
cades, which, at the distance we were from them, 
appeared to us like plates of silver. Soon all 
was shrouded in darkness, the sun withdrew 
itself, and the rain fell in torrents. We were 
compelled, much against our inclination, to quit 
this magnificent spectacle, and to return to Bo- 
gota, lest night should surprise us amid these 
inundated forests. 

My expedition to Tequendama had raised in 
me a wish to visit the other wonders of the coun- 
try, so classically described by M. de Humboldt*. 
I was naturally desirous of seeing the bridge of 
Pandi ; for which purpose, providing myself with 
a guide, I again left Bogota towards the end of 
April, shaping my course towards the south- 
east. 

I first traversed Fusagasuga, situated at an 
elevation of 940 toises, and consequently far 
lower than the plateau of Bogota, by which 
the village has the advantage of a milder 
temperature and a greater variety of harvests. 
I left upon the right Chocho, a village which takes 
its name from a tree very common in all these 

* Vue des Cordilleres. 



70 



TRAVELS IN THE 



parts. I climbed the Alto de Honda, and after 
much fatigue and difficulty, arrived at the end 
of two days at Mercadillo, after having traversed 
a country almost desert ; I every where found a 
heat of from 18° to 20°, R. 

Mercadillo was founded a few years since, 
for the purpose of attracting there the Indians of 
Coundai'e, who live in the neighbourhood. These 
men, half savages, are too fond of their indepen- 
dance, and not sufficiently so of the whites to be 
induced to increase the population of Mercadillo. 
Quitting this hamlet, I found myself within the 
Indian territory of Coundai'e : the lands are all 
uncultivated ; it is with difficulty that bananas, 
sugar canes, and a few indigenous fruit trees 
are here and there to be seen. The goats and 
cows, which are met wandering about this wild 
country, belong to the inhabitants of Mercadillo ; 
who not less careless than the CoundaTen In- 
dians, let their cattle devour and destroy the 
vanilla, which grows here in immense quan- 
tities. 

One hour sufficed for us to arrive at the na- 
tural bridge of Pandi. It is formed of a stone 
not more than twenty feet wide ; placing myself 
upon it, I cast my eyes down into the opening 
which separates the two mountains, and which 
is in depth about 363 feet. I perceived a stream 
of water, which, at the elevation where I stood, 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



71 



appeared to me a rivulet. The shortest distance 
however must be traversed in a piragua. Among 
the enormous stones which, in rolling from the 
summits of the mountains, have been stopped in 
the immense gap, that which formed the bridge, 
less attracted my admiration, than one of prodi- 
gious size which is beneath it, and which, like 
the key stone of an arch, is suspended in the air, 
and seems every moment threatening to fall with 
hideous ruin. 

The inhabitants of the country believe these 
frightful gulphs to be the entrances to hell. And 
indeed the continual night which reigns there, 
the birds of darkness whose mournful cries re- 
echo in the caverns which serve as their re- 
treat during the day, the murky waters which 
fill the depths of this precipice, the thick foliage 
of the trees which partly conceal this place of 
mystery, the noisy turbulence of the waters, the 
rocks, which, like the bridge of the Persian my- 
thology, serve to cross them, and lastly the 
darkness which shrouds all these horrors, con- 
vey no feeble idea of the empire of death. The 
illusion is the stronger from the greater part of 
living creatures avoiding the savage spot ; the 
habitations of man are far removed from it, 
and all animals seem to dread the fearful 
noises which are there heard. Thus the tra- 
veller experiences much satisfaction uponemerg- 



72 



TRAVELS IN THE 



ing from these antique forests, imbrued perhaps 
by the Indian priests with the blood of human 
victims, to find again the chearful light of day, 
and prospects less sad and gloomy. 

I re-ascended toward Mercadillo, not less 
astonished than I had been at Tequendama, al- 
though the bridge of Pandi had appeared to me 
less striking than the fall. This work proves the 
mighty powers of nature ; to establish a bridge 
of communication, it sufficed for her to roll down 
a few rocks from the heights of the mountains. 

Approaching the summits of true mountains 
which command Mercadillo, and whence may 
be perceived the Llanos* de Limone extending as 
far as the Magdalena, we soon traversed primi- 
tive forests peopled by the bear, the jaguar and 
the congouar, and by nightfall were in Fusaga- 
suga. In proportion as we removed from the 
burning valley of Mercadillo, we found a race of 
men more handsome and vigorous. 

On the morning of the next day, I returned 
to Bogota. Till six o'clock we had travelled in 
the midst of fields of mace, sugar canes, coffee 
and chirimoya (Annona) : at nine o'clock I found 
myself within the shade of the Kinas, and sur- 
rounded with fogs ; at eleven, in the barren 
furzes of the mountain summits, and almost 

*The Llanos are plains, many of which form the tract of 
country called Llanura. — Translator. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



73 



drowned with incessant rains ; at three, I des- 
cended the declivities, amid fine countries covered 
with barley, and excellent pastures, and re- 
freshed by a breeze which, towards evening, was 
cold. At length, after having passed from the 
fertile coasts, bordering the plateau on the south, 
into the regions sometimes inundated and some- 
times parched, which adjoin the capital, and 
which are only to be traversed with the assistance 
of bridges of stones, we entered Bogota at mid- 
night. 



74 



TRAVELS IN THE 



CHAPTER V. 

Journey into the province of Socorro, situated to the north of Santa-Fe de 

Bogota. 

Scarcely had I returned from one journey than 
I was anxious to undertake another, and So- 
corro, rich in industry and population, appeared 
to present the greatest interest. In the month of 
June, therefore, I procured two mules, engaged 
an intelligent guide, and set out for the valley 
of Tenza, which is to the north north-east of 
Bogota : by following this course, I could exa- 
mine the plain of Bogota in its greatest extent. 

We took the royal road : the ground per- 
fectly level facilitated the construction of a high- 
way similar to those in Europe. In many parts 
are seen farms of a very handsome appearance, 
covered with tiles and furnished with panes of 
glass to their windows. All these farms are 
carefully inclosed with stone walls. I crossed 
the plain at the time when the corn was green ; 
it promised abundantly for the harvest which 
was to take place in two months afterwards. 
The bridge, constructed over the Commun, is 
of stones ; this work of the Spaniards is not 
without merit, it is moreover exceedingly useful 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



75 



for the communications of Bogota with the salt 
mines of Zipaquira. The Commun discharges 
itself into the Bogota. When the plain is 
more inhabited and better cultivated, this river 
will be very commodious for commerce and the 
different relations of the country ; not a ca- 
noe is at present to be seen on it. The night 
came on, and as a short time before an alcaid 
had been assassinated near the place where we 
were, I stopped at a farm. 

The next day I passed through a number 
of small villages, situated on the road to Tunja. 
In general, they are only inhabited by Indians, 
who live by twisting cotton, or manufacturing 
pottery ware. The cabins of these poor people 
are extremely small, and some of them are 
round as they all were previous to the conquest. 
It is not without surprise that, in the middle 
of these wretched huts, the house of the curate 
is seen from afar, raising its proud head like a 
castle. Indeed the balconies, the glazed win- 
dows, the tiles with which the presbytery is or- 
namented, impart to it an air of magnificence 
which creates astonishment when compared with 
the wretchedness of the hovels by which it is sur- 
rounded. 

Towards noon, quitting the plain, in which 
our route hitherto lay, I approached the gra- 
nite mountains commanding it. Sesquila the 
last village of the plain of Bogota, on this side, is 
situated at a short distance from the lake of Gua- 



76 



TRAVELS IN THE 



tavita. I found the air very sharp upon the Para- 
mo de Chocotan, the wind blowing there with as 
much violence as on the sea-shore. Avery small 
but cold rain, froze our faces and hands. The 
soil of Chocotan is of a very dark colour ; the land 
is undulating* like that of downs, and the grass 
is so fine, that the foot-steps of the traveller, are 
effaced almost as quickly as in the sands of an 
African desert. 

It is in these wild places that the hunter re- 
pairs to pursue the animals which, envelopped 
in perpetual mists, think themselves safe from 
the shafts of man. The bear is here remark- 
able for his strength and courage, and the inha- 
bitants are continually at war with him, Mounted 
upon horses and armed with a lance, they attack 
and are often victorious ; these feats are how- 
ever many times attended with danger. It is 
indeed very interesting when on the top of an 
elevation so prodigious, to hear the cries of the 
hunters, the barking of the dogs, and all the 
cheerful tumult of the chace suddenly succeed 
to the hollow roaring of the winds ; it is impos- 
sible to see without astonishment horsemen gal- 
lopping fearless along the rugged tops of moun- 
tains, crossing torrents, bounding over precipices, 
scaling rocks, and at length reaching with their 
spears the animal worn out with the fatigue of 
flight. 

Upon descending the Paramo de Chocotan, 
I met with an isolated hut built at a short dis- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



77 



t&nce from a petroleum (petrote) mine, be- 
longing- to the cathedral of Santa-Fe. Here 
I passed the night. Although the sowing was 
over, they were working in the fields with great 
activity. Furnished with a hoe fixed at the 
end of a long handle, the pions, so the day 
labourers are called, were occupied in hoeing 
the land. These labourers, whose task com- 
mences with the day and finishes at night, re- 
ceive one real, and two rations of masamora 
(boiled rice) per day. Those employed upon the 
coast are paid double, and have daily a pound 
of meat. It is true that the fatigue is much 
greater on the burning coasts of the sea than 
in the Cordilleras. The labours of agricul- 
ture are much less severe for him who works 
under a temperature of 12° to 15° than for 
him who groans under the weight of 25 to 
30°, R. 

I coasted the Machetan, the banks of which 
are very rugged ; its source is in the Paramo, 
which we had traversed the preceding evening. 
This torrent runs through a rich valley ; and 
on arriving near Somondocon, takes the name 
of that village, and runs eastward into the 
Llanos. The road was dreadful which made 
me admire the hardiness of some women, who 
travelled on horseback in company with us, 
carrying their infants in their arms. Spite of 
the dangers which every instant threatened 
them, they laughed and sang with as much 



78 



TRAVELS IN THE 



gaiety and unconcern as if they had been in 
the best carriage and on the best roads in 
France. We arrived all together at Tiribita, 
in the rivulets of which are found many ferru- 
ginous pyrites ; we afterwards reached Guatake : 
these two villages are built upon territory called 
Indian. 

The Indians are loudly accused of regret- 
ting the ancient regime : that may be the case, 
since formerly they allowed no white to settle 
among them, while in the present day, they see 
their territory invaded by all sorts of avari- 
cious men. This forced union keeps up among 
the inhabitants of these villages, a violent anti- 
pathy, and an inveterate animosity. 

I crossed the river a little beyond Guatake, 
and began to climb up the opposite bank on 
which Somondocon is built. The temperature 
was here milder, and the whole face of nature 
appeared to me richer and more varied than 
I had observed it in coming from Machetan. In 
fact, on all sides were plantations of the sugar 
cane, mace, and yucca,* inclosed by willow 
hedges ; cotton trees and cactus, round which 
were twined thousands of the bind-weed family 
loaded with flowers of the most brilliant hues. 
The mountain, at the base of which Somondocon 
is situated, presented a very curious sight ; one 

* The Tatropha Manihot. The root of this plant is made 
into a sort of cakes, and is almost the only bread used in Ame- 
rica.— Translat or. 



REPUBLIC OP COLOMBIA. 



79 



might have imagined it to be formed entirely 
of crystal ; this effect was produced by numerous 
torrents falling vertically amid the thick forests, 
fringing its declivities. Even at the distance 
where I stood, the noise of these cateracts was 
tremendous. 

Somondocon is so poor a village, that no 
one could afford me hospitality. I thought that 
the parsonage would certainly grant me an 
asylum ; I was however deceived in my conjec- 
ture. Francisco Antonio Dias, for that was 
the curate's name, declared that he had already 
strangers in his house, and refused to receive me ; 
not a soul however was there. My embarrass- 
ment was most distressing. One woman alone 
took compassion on my unfortunate situation, 
I perceived it, and laid claim to her kindness. 
But the opinion, and especially the anger of 
the curate, delayed her consent ; at length I 
obtained it, and received in her humble cabin 
attentions I should, with difficulty, have found 
elsewhere. The slight difference in civilization, 
which distinguishes the part of America I was 
now in, from the regions of Africa, which I had 
traversed four years before, produces none what- 
ever in the affectionate sympathy of females for 
the suffering traveller ; he has never to fear 
appealing in vain to the tenderness of a woman. 

I had often heard of the richness of the 
emerald mines, which the Indians had former- 



80 



TRAVELS IN THE 



ly worked in this neighbourhood ; and had a 
great wish to discover the traces of them. I 
questioned many people very particularly, but 
the only result of my enquiries, was a faint hope 
of being able to make some discoveries in a 
neighbouring mountain, which I was recom- 
mended to visit. This advice pleasing me, I was 
preparing for my departure on the next day, 
when the alcade of Somondocon, followed by a 
dozen of his attendants, came into my room, and 
presenting me a letter, desired I would read it. 
Fixing his eyes upon my face, he endeavoured 
to discover the uneasiness which the reading 
of the letter might cause me. It was not of a 
nature to give me any. The civil j udge at Gua- 
take, had given instructions to the alcaid to 
watch my motions with the utmost vigilance, 
it being supposed my intention to pass from 
the high country into the Llanos. He also ex- 
pressly ordered him to demand my passport, 
which I immediately put into his hands ; the 
alguazils of the curate, for it was by his order 
this trick was played me, instantly retired covered 
with confusion. 

This adventure did not deter me from my 
design, and accompanied by a steady guide, 
I proceeded in an easterly direction, towards 
the mountain supposed to contain emeralds ; 
from its summit the Llanos are discovered ; but 
so difficult was the road, that I did not reach 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



81 



till after three hours of painful toil. I was well 
recompensed however for my fatigues by the 
magnificent view which suddenly burst upon my 
sight. On the east was seen an extensive and 
deep valley intersected by the Majoma, from 
which it derives its name ; at a still greater dis- 
tance and considerably lower, though in the 
same direction, a dark and thick cloud was per- 
ceptible behind some mountains of small eleva- 
tion ; it was the Llanos de San Martin, situated 
at about two or three days' journey. But for 
my guide, I should never have been able to have 
recognised it as land, by indications, which, from 
a singular coincidence, are the same as those 
which announce the proximity of land at sea. 
Turning towards the west, the rich and beautiful 
valley watered by the Somondocon, presents it- 
self, with the villages, the dazzling w T hiteness of 
whose houses forms an agreeable contrast with the 
green verdure of the surrounding country. So- 
mondocon, hidden in the gigantic shadows of the 
mountains, was concealed from my view ; but 
I distinguished Manta, Guatake, Suta, and 
numerous isolated huts shaded by bananas. 

Though I could not see either men or cattle, 
I could ascertain the spot where they were, from 
their cries, which, rising with the vapours from 
the plain, resounded in my ears. This effect is 
not of rare occurrence in the mountains, men 
frequently here converse together at distances 

G 



82 TRAVELS IN T/HE 

which the voice could never traverse in flat 
countries. My search after emeralds was fruit- 
less : in vain did I examine the sand of the rivu- 
lets and the schist of which the mountain is 
composed, nothing could be found ; I therefore 
descended from these cold regions to enter a 
warmer and less barren country. Our excur- 
sion would have been unattended with any ac- 
cident, had not my guide's dog, almost famished 
with the fasts he had so long endured, rushed 
upon a flock of sheep ; and spite of the cries, the 
threats and blows of his master, tore one of them 
in pieces. These ravages happen very frequent- 
ly ; the dogs often even unite in bands to at- 
tack horses and cows ; but this is only the case 
when carrion fails them. To discover this they 
watch the gallinazos (vultur aura), and when 
they see them assembling in one spot, guessing 
it is some prey which attracts them, they run 
thither, and after driving away those voracious 
birds, supply their place. 

I expected to have found my passport at 
Somondocon, which had been forwarded the even- 
ing before to the civil j udge of Guatake : I waited 
for it in vain till noon, when, becoming impatient 
at this delay, I set forward on my return to 
Guatake. Having demanded my passport from 
the alcaids, complaining at the same time of 
their want of dispatch, they feebly excused them- 
selves, but soon made me forget these disa- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



83 



greeables, by offering me their house to pass the 
night in. Upon my declining their offer, from 
my desire of arriving quickly at Suta, they 
dispatched, unknown to me, an express, with in- 
structions to the commandant of Suta, to treat 
me with great respect ; their orders were punc- 
tually obeyed, this officer shewing me the utmost 
kindness and attention. 

At Suta, to my great surprise, I received a 
visit from the son of a French doctor, who had 
died in this country several years since ; his name 
was Courtois, he had however turned it into 
Spanish, by making it Cortes : it was impossi- 
ble to witness, without compassion, the deplora- 
ble state of poverty to which the son of a 
countryman was reduced ; almost entirely naked, 
he could only be distinguished from the most 
wretched of the inhabitants, by his face, the 
features of which had not been debased by mise- 
ry. My host at Suta wished me to make a three- 
days' stay with him : but I forced myself away 
from his kindness ; and, on the 20th of June, 
directed my course to the north north-east towards 
Tenza. I only passed through this village, and 
did not enter Guachabita till night had closed 
in. 

Here terminates the valley of Tenza, which 
is dependent on the province of Tunja, Few 
diseases are found here ; no one is afflicted with 
goitres. A great number of streams cross the 

g 2 



84 



TRAVELS IN THE 



valley of Tenza in every direction, giving rise 
to several rivers, which all discharge their waters 
into the Somondocon : the latter, after having 
described various sinuosities, forms a confluence 
with the Meta. The banks of the Somondocon 
are full of salt-springs, which the inhabitants use 
instead of the salt of Zipaquira. 

The country is rather elevated ; the soil is a 
fat earth, but so much softened by the rains, as 
to render the roads impassable. The inhabitants, 
however, complain but little of this temporary 
inconvenience, when they see the riches of their 
harvests. Here man answers to the voice of 
nature f every thing is assiduously cultivated : 
bananas, sugar-canes, mace, yucca, all thrive 
in wonderful abundance. But notwithstanding 
so many invaluable benefits, man is poor ; en- 
riched by nature, society ruins him by the vi- 
cious system of the imposts it exacts from him. 
In vain do his plantations flourish, in vain are his 
granaries filled, the inhabitants of Tenza groan 
amid misery the most wretched ; and, as upon 
the Magdalena, the poor are seen seated at the 
foot of abundance itself. One cannot enter a 
house, nor a street, without meeting crowds of 
beggars ; in the villages, in the country, in fact, 
every where are persons asking alms. How can 
one refuse to grant assistance to infirmities or 
old age ! 

The charm imparted to this spot by the 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



85 



beauty of the surrounding scenery, and by the 
mild temperature, which; during the fine season, 
lasts from September to March, is totally de- 
stroyed by these objects of misery and wretched- 
ness. At the time of my journey, the country was 
inundated by the continual rains. Deceived by 
the drought which had succeeded the storms in 
the plain of Santa-Fe, whose climate is totally 
different from that of the other parts of the Cor- 
dilleras, upon descending into the valley of Ten- 
za, I had expected to find the same tempera- 
ture. I was, however, completely deceived ; 
every place here has a different sky, temperature, 
and seasons, arising from the difference of ele- 
vation. 

The temperature is generally from 15° to 16°, 
and the climate being very healthy, the number of 
old people is, therefore, very considerable ; many 
have even reached their hundredth year. I was 
shown a tree, which some children had thrown 
across a torrent, to enable their mother, who was 
above a hundred and fifteen years old, to go a 
nearer way to church, whither she went several 
times a-week, although it was situated very far 
from her hut, and the road to it very steep and 
dangerous. As the valley of Tenza is to the east 
of the immense summit of the Cordilleras, it 
follows the variations of the climate of the 
Llanos, so that the spring blooms, and the 
rains fall there at the same time as in the plains, 



86 TRAVELS IN THE 

and consequently the season for sowing is not the 
same as on the mountains of Bogota. The va- 
rious stages of cultivation, and their accompany- 
ing labours, may therefore be seen on the same 
day. On the elevated parts, sowing takes place 
in March ; towards the middle of the mountain, 
in May ; and in the valley beneath, in July. 
But such is the force of vegetation in the latter 
place, that all arrives there at maturity before 
the inhabitants of the summit can form any 
idea of the produce of their harvest. 

Upon quitting Pachabita, we quickly reached 
Volador, a mountain of but trifling elevation. 
We then entered the region of the cold country. 
On these mountains man appeared to me as 
different as the vegetable tribe. To the gaiety 
which reigns throughout the valley of Tenza, 
had succeeded the deepest gloom and sadness. 
Upon entering the hamlet of Umbita, I was 
struck with seeing a man fastened to a stake, by 
order of the curate ; a short time after, I saw 
another smarting under the cane of a militia 
Serjeant. — What rapid changes ! In the valley, 
at every step, I admired nature's holiday cele- 
brated by poverty and wretchedness ; here I saw 
man as miserable as the earth he inhabited. 

The reflections, suggested by the sight of so 
much misery, added to a temperature of from 8° 
to 10° only, made me pass a very uncomfortable 
night. Being ready to set off before day-break, 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



87 



I once more entered the Paramos,* where I again 
found fine weather, which was wafted hither 
by the same easterly winds that inundate the 
valley of Tenza. I left Turmeque on the south, 
and before noon arrived at Tiribi. Every thing 
here presented a new aspect ; instead of ba- 
nanas and sugar-canes, I found corn and pota- 
toe-fields. The soil, without being as fertile as 
that of Tenza, appeared fruitful, and in more 
industrious hands, susceptible of improvement. 
The country was rather more woody, and flocks, 
covered with thick fleeces, were grazing in the 
meadows. Man, however, still appeared to be a 
sufferer, and the salutation with which I was wel- 
comed, that of Master, indicated the state of 
slavery to which these people had been re- 
duced for so many ages. 

I had just made myself comfortable at 
Tiribi, in a hut, the use of which had been 
granted me, when I was disturbed by the en- 
trance of a tall stout man ; it was the curate. 
After the usual compliments, he requested I 
would lend him my watch ; I presented it to 
him. He then begged I would make him a 
present of it; and, upon my refusal, desired I 
would give him my sabre ; and upon again re- 
ceiving a denial, he retired, inviting me in no 
very gracious terms to pay him a visit. 

* The Paramo is a very high part of the Cordillera, con- 
stantly covered with snow, where it is always extremely cold. — 
Translator. 



88 TRAVELS IN THE 

Shortly after quitting Tiribi, I traversed the 
field of battle of Boyaca ; where, in 1809, the 
Spaniards were defeated by the patriots. The 
same night I entered Tunja, and was hospitably 
received by the curate ; he is one of those whose 
attentions have had most claim to my grateful 
remembrance. 

Tanja, before the arrival of the victorious 
Spaniards in these parts, was already a consider- 
able town, and as important in Candinamarca as 
Cusco in Peru. Quesada obtained possession of 
it by the same means as Pizarro and Cortes had 
found so successful : he put the king of Tunja to 
death. The riches he found amid the spoils of that 
prince, the sight of which made the Spaniards ex- 
claim, ft We also have found a Peru ;" enabled 
him to build a new town, which was for a long- 
time the rival of Bogota, the whole of the nobi- 
lity of the country having retired thither : it 
is now nothing but a desert. 

Tunja possesses no recommendations what- 
ever : neither inhabitants^ mildness of tempera- 
ture, nor water, either plentiful or healthy, are 
to be found. The people are afflicted with goitres, 
the sky is seldom without clouds, and the climate 
is very cold ; in short, almost all the houses are 
in ruins. A very interesting phenomenon, how- 
ever, attracts the curious thither, and consti- 
tutes the delight of the inhabitants. To the 
north-west of Tunja, and at a short distance, 
are some springs of water, warm enough during 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



89 



the night to be used for bathing ; in the day-time 
they are very cold. This luxury, which is con- 
sequently only to be obtained after sun-set, is 
rendered the more agreeable by the basin which 
has been formed for the better enjoyment of that 
pleasure ; it is the only one that Tunja possesses. 

This town is the chief place of a province 
of considerable extent, but which is in general 
very barren. Were it warmer, one might often 
suppose one's self in the midst of an African 
desert. The ground is covered with rocks, and 
furrowed by the waters, which form frightful 
chasms in different places ; but as these soon 
evaporate, the country is in great want of water. 
This province is notwithstanding one of the 
richest, its inhabitants are active and indus- 
trious, and considerable quantities of woollen 
and cotton stuffs are there manufactured. Al- 
though very coarse, these productions are in re- 
quest throughout the republic, and their sale 
considerably enriches Tunja. 

The greater proportion of the lands lie fal- 
low ; they would, however, produce considera- 
ble crops, if the inhabitants were less indiffe- 
rent. No encouragement can rouse them from 
their indolent habits and usual routine. This 
was proved at Leyva, where an attempt was 
made to cultivate the olive. Barley, oats, and 
wheat, are sown with success throughout the 
country. There are few parts of the province 



90 



TRAVELS IN THE 



where any thing* else could be produced on 
account of the cold. Rice., sugar, and coffee, 
are obtained from Muzo. 

It took me a whole day to go fromTunja 
to Paipa, whence I directed my course to the 
south south-east to reach a farm, the income 
from which is very considerable, owing to the 
peculiar bounty of nature. The meadow, in the 
midst of which this farm is built, and which is 
nearly half a league in extent, contains several 
springs of warm sulphureous water, the tempe- 
rature being about 49°, R. In the dry season, 
the vapours are condensed, and cover all the pas- 
tures with sulphate of soda. This salt is very 
carefully collected, and afterwards given to the 
cattle, who are wonderfully improved by it in 
the course of six months. By means of this 
advantage, the proprietor of the estate purchases 
in the Llanos of San Martin, cattle at the rate of 
five piastres a piece, which he afterwards sells for 
twenty-five or thirty. This fine estate belongs to 
the jesuits. A sulphur mine is in its neighbour- 
hood. 

We afterwards proceeded towards the south 
south-east, and continuing to traverse uncul- 
tivated and uninhabited countries, descended 
into the plain of Sogamoso. In the course of an 
hour we arrived at Issa, a village situated to the 
east. We witnessed a singular sight on our arri- 
val, that of a fete, consisting of songs and dances, 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



91 



to celebrate the death of a child ; a strange cus- 
tom to rejoice at a loss which every where else 
costs so many tears, and so much sorrow. Upon 
coming to Issa, I had promised myself to visit 
the lake of Tota, situated higher up, but in the 
same direction ; I therefore quitted Issa before 
sun-rise, and, accompanied by a fresh guide, 
scaled the rugged heights upon which the paramo 
Ramona is situated. Here the cold was very 
severe. At eight o'clock, I was on the borders of 
the lake, which is very large, since the tour of it 
is made with difficulty in a day. Superstition has 
not failed to people this spot with frightful pro- 
digies ; in fact, the savage nature of the country, 
the waters suspended at such an immense height, 
and always agitated by the winds blowing off the 
Toxillo, (a paramo which raises itself above the 
lake Tota) a mucilaginous substance of an oval 
form, and filled with an insipid water, which is 
found on the sands — all inspires astonishment. 
According to the inhabitants, the waters of this 
lake are not navigable ; in its depths malignant 
genii are said to inhabit dwellings, whose por- 
ticoes may be perceived on leaving the shores, and 
proceeding some distance in the stream ; it is 
even added, that, at intervals, a monstrous fish 
is seen to rise from the abyss and shows itself for 
a few moments. 

The lake of Tota is in the form of an arc, 
the two ends of which extend in a direction 



92 



TRAVELS IN THE 



from the north-west to the south-east ; the tem- 
perature is very damp and cold ; the water of 
a blueish colour is heavy, insipid and scarcely 
drinkable ; like that of the sea, it is in con- 
tinual agitation, caused by the tempests so 
common to the Toxillo. Some isles rise from 
the bosom of the lake ; but on these, one man 
alone has dared to set his foot ; the idea that 
the lake is enchanted, prevents them being' revi- 
sited : the bottom appears composed of silicious 
sand. The mountains which enclose the lake of 
Tota are immense walls composed of basaltic and 
granite rocks, so strongly cemented as to resist 
all nitration ; it may however be conjectured that 
the warm springs of Issa and Paipa owe their 
origin to this immense basin placed so many toises 
above their level. Some desolate huts, the sport 
of the winds, are scattered along the prodigious- 
ly high and rugged sides of this lake of the 
Cordilleras. Near this lake is the village of Gui- 
tiva, which I traversed on my return to Issa, the 
road we took was full of capopals loaded with the 
cochineal insects ; and what is not less interesting 
to the inhabitants, affording a great quantity 
of flints. In proportion as I removed from these 
heights, I found the temperature more supporta- 
ble. Having arrived in the beautiful plain of 
Sogamoso, I soon distinguished the village amid 
the willows which shade it ; I stopped till the 
next day, in this place so renowned before the 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



93 



conquest, for the worship paid to the sun ; the 
temple which was there, being according to some 
historians, of unequalled magnificence ; no traces 
of its past grandeur are now perceptible. A con- 
siderable cattle trade is carried on at Sogamoso ; 
the animals are brought from the Llanos by the 
Toxillo. Cotton, stuffs, and woollen hats manu- 
factured at Somagoso, are forwarded to those 
plains in exchange for the cotton, indigo and salt, 
also drawn from thence. Notwithstanding the 
profits of this trade, it is much neglected on ac- 
count of the bad state of the roads and the dangers 
presented by the paramo. A great number of the 
inhabitants of the Cordillera perish in the plain, 
or are soon attacked by fever, on account of the 
quantity of animal food which they eat ; the in- 
habitants of the plains run less risk, it might be 
supposed that they would not be able to endure 
the cold of the more elevated regions ; they how- 
ever brave it in their light cotton garments, and 
are very seldom attacked with sickness. 

Upon quitting Sogamoso, I turned to the 
north-west, in order to visit a lead mine which is 
being worked in the neighbourhood ; it was ne- 
cessary to cross the Rio-Grande, the ford of which 
was pointed out to me by a man on horseback ; 
after ascending gradually for a short time, I de- 
scended into the plain of Tibasosa. This vil- 
lage is situated on the other side of the river 
which waters the vallies of Sogamoso, and Ti- 
basosa ; almost opposite the latter is the lead mine 



94 



TRAVELS IN THE 



of Sogamoso, eight men were at work there ; 
they informed me they had entered into a partner- 
ship, for the working this mine, and that it 
afforded but little profit since the water had 
stopped up the principal gallery, which had been 
open for more than a century ; they contented 
themselves with washing the mineral ; but being 
frequently in want of water, they could not 
obtain by this rough process, more than an arroba 
of lead per week, producing about 30 francs.* 
The hardness of the rock, the encroachments 
of the water, and especially the want of necessary 
implements, prevent further profits, notwithstand- 
ing the mine is rich and abundant. 

At a short distance from this place is a cop- 
per foundery, the metal is brought from Moni- 
quira; the articles manufactured at this wretched 
forge are not destitute of taste, and consist gene- 
rally of stirrups and bells. 

I resumed my journey towards the norths 
in the midst of mountains formed of purple and 
violet coloured clay : it was night when I en- 
tered Santa Rosa. Hospitality is every where 
exercised with so much generosity, that I thought, 
notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, I should 
find no difficulty in getting a lodging ; but I was 
deceived, every door was closed against me. I 
knocked at those of the alcaids and the civil judge ; 
but they refused opening them, under pretext 
that their masters were absent ; the curate to 

* About 22 shillings English. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



95 



whom I applied as a last resource, did not mani- 
fest more charity than his neighbours. It was 
late, my cloaths were wet through, I had not 
eaten all day, and found myself obliged to lie 
in the street ; I was indeed in much distress ; 
all were deaf to my prayers, one only, and that, 
for the second time, a woman took compassion 
on me and offered me half her cabin ; I joyfully 
shared it ; and although it was difficult to sleep 
amid the pots of chicha* and heaps of onions, 
with which it was stored, I passed a delicious 
night by comparing it with that reserved for me by 
the inhospitality of the inhabitants of Santa Rosa, 
and by listening to the rain which fell in torrents. 

The name of Santa Rosa, sounds well to the 
ear, and from the regularity of the houses and 
streets, the town in some degree answers the pleas- 
ing ideas to which its appellation gives rise. But 
the temperature is very cold ; and as the environs 
produce nothing but corn, potatoes and onions, 
the population would not be very rich had it not 
as a resource several manufactories of woollen 
hats and cotton stuffs, which articles are in much 
request with their neighbours, the inhabitants of 
Socorro. Goitres are here very common. 

The next day I passed through Serinsa, situ- 
ated in an irregular valley, where the cold is very 

* The common beverage of the Indians. It is generally 
made of maize, which is pounded and then left to ferment — in 
some parts, instead of pounding, the Indians chew it between 
their teeth. It is very intoxicating — Translator, 



96 



TRAVELS IN THE 



severe, if we may judge from the moss which 
covers the roofs. This severe temperature comes 
from the paramo that commands the valley, and 
which extends from the north north-east, to the 
south south-west. At noon I began to climb it; and 
reached the summit after having travelled some 
time among apple trees, which, in the Cordillera, 
form the limits of the earth's obedience to man. 
At five o'clock in the evening, I arrived at the 
vent a, on the Socorro side of the mountain, the 
resting place for all travellers. 

The paramos form a country absolutely un- 
like those above which they rise. AH is different, 
nature there produces plants entirely distinct 
from those of the other regions ; and but for a 
few spots sheltered from the winds, where man 
has sown potatoes, beans, and onions, these places 
would be uninhabitable. The earth is here rare- 
ly covered, with stones, except in places near the 
region of snow, where a kind of gravel is found 
similar to that of rivers. 

When I traversed the Serinsa, the tempera- 
ture although cold was bearable ; but the air was 
excessively dry, so much so that the straps and 
ropes, which secured my baggage, were breaking 
every instant. I had great cause to congratulate 
myself; for, according to what the inhabitants told 
me, when the paramo se pone bravo (is out of 
humour), then the greatest dangers threaten the 
traveller ; a wind loaden with icy vapours blows 
with tremendous violence ; thick darkness covers 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



97 



the earth and conceals every trace of a road. 
The birds which, on the appearance of a fine day, 
had attempted the passage, fall motionless. The 
traveller seeks to shelter himself under the stunted 
shrubs which here and there grow in these 
deserts ; but their wet foliage obliges him to 
find another covert. Worn out with fatigue and 
hunger, in vain urging on his mules, benumbed 
with cold, he sits down to recover his exhausted 
strength. Fatal repose! his stomach soon becomes 
affected as when at sea, his blood freezes in his 
veins, his muscles grow stiff, his lips open as if to 
smile, and he expires with the expression of joy 
upon his features. The mules, no longer hearing 
their master's voice, remain standing, til] at length 
tired, they lie down to die. 

Nothing presents so dismal an appearance 
as the Serinsa, seen from below, its frowning 
brow is generally hidden in the clouds ; while 
its summit is rarely illumined by a cheerful sky. 
Some springs, whose livid and icy waters are not 
potable, escape from its barren sides, but never 
produce on them that fertility to which they 
contribute in the lower region ; muddy pools, 
choaked up with bull-rushes and other aquatic 
plants, occupy the bottom of the vallies. The 
screams of the white heron, when the winds are 
hushed, is all that breaks in upon its silence. 
The earth produces nothing but a short kind of 
grass, eagerly sought after by animals. One 

H 



98 



TRAVELS IN THE 



plant alone, the (espeletia frailexon) of stately- 
growth is able to resist the hurricane ; its yellow 
leaves, placed at the top of a stalky entirely black, 
shed a melancholy gleam, like that of a funeral 
torch ; an effect still heightened by the nume- 
rous crosses placed upon the graves of travellers 
who have perished in their endeavours to cross 
the paramo. 

Spite of the perils often encountered by man 
upon these heights, poverty, and his avidity after 
gold, continually force him to traverse them. 
If he is met coming from the warm countries, he 
is seen laden with bananas and succulent fruits ; 
if from cold ones, bending beneath sacks of flour, 
or enormous earthen pots, filled with chicha, in 
a state of fermentation. A miserable profit is 
sufficient to induce him to brave the fatigues and 
privations to which he is condemned in these 
wild and desert regions. Will it be credited, that 
a man can earn little more than five francs (about 
three shillings and ninepence) for carrying a load 
of seventy five pounds weight from Santa Rosa to 
Socorro, a journey of three days ? But by this he 
gains the utmost of his wishes ; he sells the over- 
plus of his harvest, and lives for nearly a month 
upon its profits. Mules are also used on this labo- 
rious passage, but the roads are so excessively bad, 
that men are employed to much greater advan- 
tage. The venta del Basio, built by a worthy man 
on the paramo of Serinsa, and where I passed the 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



99 



night, consists of four cottages— two only are 
closed in with earthy the other two being open, 
expose the traveller to a most intense cold. 
The prejudice of the inhabitants of the Cordille- 
ra against fire, which they conceive to be un- 
wholesome, prevents them from lighting any. 
It is indeed, impossible to imagine, how men 
born in the glowing regions of the Socorro, and 
clad only in cotton garments, can resist a cold 
so intense : as for me, I was benumbed, although 
my birth was the least exposed to the outward 
air, and notwithstanding I was well wrapped up 
in thick woollen cloaks, &c. The cold, however, 
which I felt, did not last all the night, my host 
had conceived the singular idea of bringing up 
a great number of cats, which were trained to 
place themselves upon the feet of travellers ; I 
had two of them, whose thick furs kept me very 
warm. I certainly needed them much, my host's 
supper not being at all calculated to exhilarate 
me ; yucca, potatoes, masamora, a bouilli of 
maize, and warm chicha, are dishes too simple for 
an European stomach. 

The owner of the venta has, at the foot of 
the paramo, a field which, under the fostering 
rays of a warmer sun, produces sugar canes.— 
This place, so fortunate when compared with 
those by which it is overlooked, is called Las 
Vueltas ; the way to it lies through very thick 
woods, which, in several places, advance even 

h 2 



100 



TRAVELS IN THE 



into the sinuosities of the paramos, as if they 
were braving a new climate ; their audacity seems 
to be punished, for, constantly blown upon by 
the frosty winds, the trees, which approach too 
nearly the limits of vegetation, are covered with 
mosses, which stop their growth and hasten their 
decay. 

I had been told, that I should find at Las 
Vueltas the ruins of a village, formerly inha- 
bited by the Indians, this had greatly excited my 
curiosity ; but on arriving there, I could only 
discover holes, dug by the inhabitants in every 
direction, for the purpose of discovering the 
riches which they supposed to lie buried there ; 
to their great disappointment, they had found 
nothing but earthen vessels, and glass ornaments, 
proofs of the comparatively recent destruction of 
the Indian village. Whether the inhabitants of 
this inaccessible retreat had fled unto the plains 
of Meta, or had dispersed themselves in different 
directions, cannot be ascertained — a circum- 
stance which renders their disappearance from 
among so many habitations, scattered in every 
direction, the more mysterious. Upon the ruins 
of the Indian huts, the landlord of the venta has 
built his residence. The site is very lonely, but 
enchanting ; at the foot of it flows a river of con- 
siderable breadth ; and upon its rugged sides 
have been sown maize and beans. This estate 
has all the extent which the peaceful ambition of 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. iUl 

its owner requires. Oaks of majestic growth 
shade his fields and preserve them from the hur- 
ricanes of the mountains. But in spite of the 
pleasure which is experienced in contemplating 
the image of happiness and plenty in this retreat, 
when compared with the desolate aspect of the 
paramo, one cannot help feeling some regret 
from the reflection, that these fields were former- 
ly cultivated by an unfortunate race, now afar 
off, and sighing, perhaps, after their lawful pos- 
sessions. On the other hand, when thinking of 
the savage state in which that people must have 
lived, it is delightful to walk fearlessly amid 
these beautiful forests, enlivened, at intervals, by 
the lowing of the cattle, where, although so 
completely isolated, one meets with civilisation, 
peaceful habits, and even customs not unknown 
to Europeans. 

Bidding an adieu to this charming retreat, 
in which I could have spent some months with 
much satisfaction, I soon entered the road of 
Guacha, by which the traveller descends into the 
Socorro. The inhabitants of this country look 
upon it as the work of the devil ; they have 
pointed out to me with their finger the abode of 
the wicked one, but I must confess I saw no- 
thing. The Guacha is nothing but a rock of im- 
mense extent, in which the rains and the earth- 
quakes have made considerable chasms ; it is con- 
sequently impossible to make use of horses there, 



102 



TRAVELS IN THE 



and I therefore alighted ; no accident happened 
to me, which was the more fortunate, as in ge- 
neral several horses are lost in this dangerous 
passage. Some idea may be formed of the risks 
to be run, by the bones with which the road is 
strewed, and the numerous crosses erected at 
the foot of the precipice. When we arrived there 
our labours were not over ; we were obliged to 
continue walking on foot, for the road, although 
not so rugged, is formed along the bed of a ri- 
ver, so that one is continually in the water. I 
arrived safe and sound at the venta Oorda, a 
very small house. Twelve of us lodged there to- 
gether. 

On the 1st of July I was out of the para- 
mos, the aspect of the country was less forbid- 
ding, the climate milder, and the sky more se- 
rene. The cold no longer prevented me from 
rising before day -break: in a few hours we 
reached Elisano, and were on the territory of 
Socorro — upon advancing into this province, we 
experienced a most agreeable change ; all the 
cottages were covered with tiles ; an air of com- 
fort was observable throughout the inhabitants, 
and an amenity of manners, seldom to be met 
with in cold climates ; we were every where 
received with welcome ; the beautiful tropical 
character of nature gladdened our sight on every 
side, for it is ever pleasing to see again the 
banana and the orange trees ; unfortunately the 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



103 



roads are so encumbered with mud, that it was 
necessary to advance with the utmost caution, 
in order to avoid making a slip, which would 
have been truly dangerous. Upon quitting Eli- 
sano, I coasted the Pienta, a river which waters 
all the valley of Charalan. 

Before night-fall I entered the town of that 
name ; I was surprised at the regularity of its 
streets and houses, and had the satisfaction of 
meeting once more that careless gaiety indige- 
nous to a warm climate. 

The next day I took the direction towards 
Culetas, where I arrived at noon ; I did not stop 
here, but continued to follow the route of villa 
Socorro ; on the road, we met a man and wo- 
man, whom the alcaid of a neighbouring village 
had so ill treated, for their having refused to 
submit to a most unjust corvee, that they were 
nearly expiring ; some wealthy inhabitants of 
Charalan, who were travelling with me, advised 
them to go and confess themselves instantly, 
without however, backing this advice by more 
substantial consolations, of which these un- 
fortunate wretches stood in present need : they 
assisted them to rise, condoled with them on 
their lot, and they were at length able to reco- 
ver their strength, and travel on to reach Cule- 
tas ; we took the road of the town of Socorro, 
which town I entered before night. 

The province of Socorro ends, on the north, 



104 



TRAVELS IN THE 



a league and a half beyond St. Giles, and bor- 
ders on this side upon Pamplona.* It extends 
on the south as far as Puente Real ; to the east, 
it is bounded by the province of Tunja ; and to 
the west, by the unknown lands of the Magdalena; 
it contains several towns of importance, St. 
Giles, where a stone bridge, and a college have 
just been built, Zapatoca, Charalan, Palmar, Ai- 
ba, Simatoca, Palmas, Guadalupe, and Socor- 
ro. This latter, which gives its name to all the 
province, is the capital of it : there is the resi- 
dence of the governor, who has under his orders 
a few militia men and invalids, to whom the go- 
vernment pays four or five piastres per month. 

The town of Socorro is ill built, and still 
worse paved. Situated on the declivity of a 
mountain, it is seldom refreshed by the winds, 
on account of the chain of Opon, which extends 
north and south, to the mountains of Ocana. 
The heat is consequently very intense there, the 
thermometer in the shade, rarely being lower 
than 20°. At the time I was there (July) it 
usually began raining at one o'clock in the 
afternoon ; the thunder roared, and the storm 
lasted till sunset. The winds blew from the 
north. 

The waters are generally disagreeable for 
drinking, and of a bad quality. May not the goi- 
tres, which disfigure all the population, and even 

* See the first note. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



105 



foreigners, after a long residence there, be attri- 
buted to them ? even animals are affected with 
this evil, and only escape from it by death. Fe- 
vers are also very common, and many old men 
are dropsical. The population of Socorro is, how- 
ever, estimated at nearly twelve thousand inhabi- 
tants ; their activity and intelligence are asto- 
nishing ; they are assiduous in agriculture, nor 
are their manufactures despicable. Their har- 
vests of sugar, cotton, and rice, are plentiful ;* 
these articles are at the most reasonable rate 
possible, for few roads are practicable. It had 
been proposed to form a road over the mountains 
of Opon, by which the Magdalena might have 
been reached in six days, whilst a longer time 
is required to reach the port of Botigas, which 
is only twenty-seven leagues distant ; but the 
war has prevented this useful project from being 
executed. 

The inmates of every hut are engaged in 
spinning, dying, or weaving ; different trades 
are seen in every direction ; a considerable num- 
ber of the inhabitants prefer making straw hats : 
these manufacturers are easily distinguished, by 
the nail of the index finger, which they permit to 
grow to a most extravagant length. 

The stuffs manufactured are coarse, but du- 
rable; although in the provinces they are preferred 

* Moist sugar about 6ft 1 real ; loaf sugar, 25ft 5 reals ; 
cotton, 25ft 10 reals ; rice, 25ft 4 reals. 



106 



TRAVELS IN THE 



to the foreign cotton when sold at the same price, 
and notwithstanding the sale is consequently con- 
siderable, the manufacturers are very poor ; in 
fact a spinster does not earn a real per day ; a 
piece of cotton stuff containing sixty-four vares 
(about 52 yards) does not produce the weaver 
a greater profit than seven reals. — The merchant 
alone gains ; he transports the stuffs from 
Socorro to Giron, where he exchanges them for 
tobacco and gold ; at Cucuta, he barters them 
for cocoa ; and at Zipaquira, for salt and Eng- 
lish stuffs. The latter are the only ones in re- 
quest ; a prejudice little encouraging to native 
industry ; even the women now only dress a 
l'Anglaise. A fancy the more easily gratified 
as the Manchester cottons are even cheaper than 
those manufactured in the country itself ; a 
gown may be had for about seven shillings. 

The houses are generally dirty and badly 
constructed, but are more commodious then 
those of the cold regions. There are beds in 
them ; silver plate, table cloths and napkins 
are used at meals ; but in general the only 
dishes are potatoes, rice, bananas and pork. — 
The inhabitants of Socorro have, at all times, 
displayed a boldness and energy of character, 
which forms a singular contrast with their heavy 
and stupid appearance ; even now, although they 
seem tired out with the numerous claims every 
day made upon their patriotism, the only title 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



107 



they use one to another is that of citizen, ap- 
pearing- firmly attached to the republican system. 
They were the first who, long before Europe sup- 
posed that America could ever become indepen- 
dent, raised the standard of revolt. 

I shall now proceed to investigate the ori- 
gin and the consequences of the insurrection, 
which produced the emancipation of America, 
first briefly describing the situation of this 
country from the period of the conquest to the 
commotion which took place in 1781 : by this 
means the reader will be made acquainted with 
the two eras of the Spanish Empire in America, 
and will be enabled to compare the new system 
with that which existed previously. 



108 



TRAVELS IN THE 



CHAPTER VI. 

Situation of the country from 1498 to 1781. — The ancient inhabi- 
tants — Their customs — Their manners — Commercial, religious and 
military conquests — Quesada — Decrease of the Indian population — 
Negroes — Their Condition — Mixture of the races — Ports — Churches — 
Villages — Towns — Mines — Colonial agriculture — European agricul- 
ture—Industry—Spanish Government — Profound peace. 

When America was first discovered, savages of 
unconquerable ferocity and courage inhabited 
the beautiful plains of Cumana, Caracas, as well 
as those watered by the Apure and Oronooko ; 
continually wandering in these impregnable re- 
treats, a few fruits, or the produce of the chace 
constituted their only food ; the earth in sum- 
mer, or the shelter of trees in the rainy season, 
served them for bed and habitation : they were 
almost naked ; the rude paintings with which they 
covered their bodies, the bones or teeth of animals 
with which they loaded their ears, and the rings 
of gold which they appended from their nostrils, 
were the most refined ornaments they had in- 
vented ; the feathers of birds was the usual co- 
vering of their heads, and the spoils of wild beasts 
that of the body. Ambition however slumbered 
amidst all this wretchedness ; the supreme com- 
mand was the object of their most ardent vows ; 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



109 



it was the recompense of the most painful trials; 
the least expression of complaint was punished 
by exclusion. What need then had these bar- 
barians of a chief? what differences were to be 
decided ? what spoils, what conquests were to be 
shared? — -The bloody corpses of their enemies; 
for the greater part of them, when the chase 
failed, fed upon the palpitating limbs of their 
prisoners ; there were but few tribes who dis- 
liked these horrible repasts. 

In the mountains, on the contrary, the man- 
ners were ameliorated. The rich province of An- 
tioquia alone was still addicted to blood ; while 
in the plain in which Santa-Fe was afterwards 
built, the nation of the Moscas already possessed 
some laws. The communications between diffe- 
rent villages were safe and frequent. Agricul- 
ture commenced to be in esteem, property was 
respected, the towns had habitations tolerably 
commodious and the people were dressed with 
decency. Without being surrounded by all 
that splendour to be found in the courts of Te- 
nochtitlan and Cusco, that of the chief of Cun- 
dinamarca, to whom the Spaniards gave the title 
of king, was magnificent. Religion possessed 
its temples, altars and priests. Of all the 
Indians who inhabited these vast regions, the 
Moscas were the only ones who restricted the 
offering to their Gods, the sun and moon, to birds 
which they had previously taught to pronounce 
some words of their language, in order that the 



110 



TRAVELS IN THE 



cheated divinities might take them for human vic- 
tims. Everywhere else,nothingbuthuman victims 
were offered, and young persons of both sexes 
brought up to be butchered in these horrid sa- 
crifices, were sold at a most enormous price. 

Upon hearing of the discovery of the new 
world, the most savage inhabitants of which wore 
collars and bracelets of gold, the Spanish soldiers, 
weary of European warfare, which now afforded 
then but a poor booty, and the Moors and Jews, 
impatient of the yoke, to which they had recent- 
ly been subjected, bid adieu to Europe, and 
set off to visit these new lands, and to find an- 
other country. But along the whole coast of 
South America, which is washed by the sea of the 
Antilles, they were repulsed by the Indians, and 
found all their flattering hopes disappointed. 
These misfortunes caused so general a despon- 
dency, that the Spanish government found itself 
obliged to offer the conquest of Venezuela to the 
highest bidder.* 

It was undertaken by some german mer- 
chants in 1528, who executed it with all the 
cruelty imaginable.-}- 

They succeeded in gaining possession of the 

* The fact is that Charles V having- borrowed considerable 
sums from the Welsers of Ausbourg, at that time the richest 
merchants in Europe, offered them the province of Venezuela, 
in payment, and they accepted it as a fief of Castille. See 
Raynal, Histoire des Indes. — Translator. 

f Depons, tome I, p. 77. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



Ill 



coast, and had already erected habitations at 
some distance in the interior ; these were how- 
ever continually reduced to ashes by the savages 
who had taken refuge in the woods, and the ter- 
rified colonists, scarcely dared to quit their pali- 
saded fortresses. — 

Religion now undertook to put a stop to these 
excesses, and to make a conquest which the 
sword had been unable to effect. Missionaries 
penetrated into the wild retreats of the fugitive 
Indians. The greater number of these peaceful 
conquerors became the victims of their zeal. 
Those who had the good fortune to escape, ob- 
tained victory after victory ; and as they advanced, 
founded churches of thatch and rushes ; at length, 
they arrived on the borders of the Oronooko, 
after having opened a safe communication be- 
tween that river and Venezuela, by means of the 
asylums, inviolable even for the savages, which 
they had erected at intervals. 

In the mean time, the soldiers jealous of the 
glory of Pizarro and Cortes, scaled the Cordillera 
under the command of Quesada, and subdued 
empires. In fact this chief, stimulated by the se- 
ductive accounts of a great number of Indians 
who, pointing to the south, had assured him that 
he would find in that direction a rich and power- 
ful empire, set off from St. Martha in the month 
of April 1536, at the head of six hundred and 
twenty infantry, and eighty-five cavalry. It was 



112 



TRAVELS IN THE 



with infinite difficulty that his slight and ill con- 
structed boats could ascend the Magdalena, but 
the obstacles opposed to him by this river, 
instead of arresting his progress, only inflamed 
his courage. A great number of his brave com- 
panions perished either with fatigue or want. 
Nothing, however, could daunt him : he at- 
tacked the Indians inhabiting the canton, where 
Velez has since been built, gained an easy con- 
quest, traversed their territory, and victoriously 
descended into the beautiful plains of Ibate and 
Bogota. His valour had not been abused by 
idle tales. The province of Cundinarmarca, 
since called Santa-Fe, was very rich. Power- 
ful princes, called zipas, at the head of a feudal 
government, ruled the country, and protected 
an industry which had already begun to deve- 
lope itself ; their temples, and palaces of straw, 
contained no inconsiderable treasure. 

Thus a few bold and enterprising men, in 
the course of one year, effected the conquest of 
those countries to which the name of the Vice- 
royalty of New Grenada has since been given, but 
which form only one portion of it # . The proofs of 
a movement towards civilisation was every where 
observable among the Indians. The avarice of 
the Spaniards, increased by this circumstance, 
sought only after new conquests. Neither the 

* The Indians were not wanting- in courage, but the Spa- 
niards were in the sixteenth century what the French were in 
the nineteenth, fortunate and invincible. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 113 

badness of the roads, the want of provisions, 
the oppressive intensity of the heat, nor the poi- 
soned arrows of the natives, could damp their 
enterprising courage. Some adventurers, col- 
lecting a few soldiers in the ports of the sea of 
the Antilles, and furnished with ammunition, 
proceeded to eonosner kingdoms. 

Not less brave than Pizarro, Benalcazar, at 
first his lieutenant, became his rival in glory. 
Quito, Pas to, Popayan, and the valley of Cauca, 
acknowledged his authority. Then, passing the 
Quindiu and the Magdalena, and arriving in the 
plain of Bogota, at the moment when Quesada 
had completed its conquest, he became one of 
the founders of the capital of these rich posses- 
sions. 

Upon hearing the recital of so many famous 
exploits, at the sight of the fields of battle, and 
the impregnable places where the Spaniards 
fought, it is difficult to explain how they ob- 
tained such rapid and astonishing success, espe- 
cially if credit be given to the accounts of the first 
historians, of the considerable number of inha- 
bitants who were found there. But, already 
mistress of the coasts of Africa, Spain only aban- 
doned them for those of America, because the 
population of the latter were found to be less 
numerous and warlike. Besides, being assisted 
by the intestine quarrels among the Indians, the 
Spanish captains every where found traitors to 

i 



114 



TRAVELS IN THE 



be gained over ; these acted as guides, and dis- 
covered the ambushes laid for them, while women 
served them as interpreters and spies. 

Recruiting was particularly carried on at 
St, Domingo ; this island was already filled with 
negroes and mulattoes ; they were formed into 
regiments, and sent over to the continent. These 
men were the best soldiers that could be em- 
ployed in this burning climate. It is doubt- 
less by inheritance that the Indians still indulge 
an implacable hatred against men of colour. 

These, after having contributed to the con- 
quest of such rich empires, were now to assist in 
peopling them ; for the conquerors having im- 
prudently employed in the mines, and in the 
labours of the field, the Indians, for a long time 
accustomed to idleness, and incapable of work- 
ing in the burning lands of the tropics, where 
their fathers were not born, had sunk under the 
weight of fatigues, which were indeed light, but 
to which they were not accustomed. Let the 
white and feeble population of our Antilles be 
forced by their masters to dig the earth for a few 
days, exposed to the burning heat of the sun, 
although that under which they were born, and 
the race will gradually sink, and at last entirely 
disappear. This was what happened in the Ame- 
rican archipelago ; at the end of two centuries 
none of the natives were to be found. Those of 
the plains of Venezuela, would likewise have 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



115 



disappeared had they not taken refuge in the 
forests of Oronooko. 

Such was not the case in the mountains ; 
the painful labours of agriculture were not fatal 
to any of the Indians, because they were under a 
climate suited to their strength ; thus, the number 
of Indians, far from diminishing, was consider- 
ably increased. 

The African then could alone resist the tro- 
pical heat ; he alone, could be forced against his 
inclination to labour without perishing from 
grief and fatigue. Permission was therefore asked 
of the Spanish government to allow the impor- 
tation of them. The court of Madrid hesitated 
a long time before it would grant this dangerous 
privilege ; it was at length forced from it, in 
order to appease the cry of humanity which rose 
on behalf of the Indians, and to people those 
vast empires which, even before the conquest, pre- 
sented so many deserts and solitudes. 

Thus the negroes destined to cultivate the 
American soil, first entered as slaves into those 
countries, which they were one day to share with 
their masters. The latter not having been accom- 
panied by women in their perilous expeditions, 
at first they took those of the vanquished nations, 
and soon afterwards, those of their slaves. 

These last in their turn, fastened in the en- 
comiendas to the same chain as the Indians, 
overcoming their antipathy to these companions 

i 2 



116 



TRAVELS IN THE 



in misfortune, asked, and obtained leave to 
intermarry with them. It is thus that the 
entire population of Venezuela, the whole ot 
whose features announce an Asiatic origin, as- 
sumed a thousand different hues ; the white co- 
lour, however, was considered as exclusively 
entitled to respect, and the women coveted the 
honour of leaving to their offspring this proud 
inheritance ; so that, in a short time, the number 
of these half whites, or children of Indians and 
Europeans, was prodigiously increased. A great 
portion of the Indian family soon became so 
amalgammated and confounded with them, as to 
induce the belief that they had been all mas- 
sacred by the Spaniards. 

At the same time, this family already much 
mixed, was further augmented by a multitude 
of negresses ; but, notwithstanding these numer- 
ous crossings of the different races, the honour ot 
peopling the continent still belonged to the 
white race, and the number of men of colour 
was far less than in the Antilles, where the white 
colour had a constant tendency to lose itself in 
that of the blacks. 

Having become masters of the coasts, the 
Spaniards lost no time in building several forts, 
where, defended from sudden surprise and al- 
ways ready to embark on the first serious at- 
tack, they prepared for the conquest of the 
interior provinces. Their positions were well 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



117 



chosen, they availed themselves of the suggestions 
of nature, which, in different parts, offered them 
places proper for resisting on one hand, external 
enemies, already jealous of their conquest, and 
on the other, those who in the interior, were 
meditating but too late to wrest them from them. 
Puerto Cabello, la Guayra, defended Venezuela ; 
Maracaybo. the entrance of the Cordillera, Santa 
Martha and Carthagena, the rich canal of the 
Magdalena ; San Thomas, the Oronooko ; Pana- 
ma, the important passage of the two seas. Their 
flag was hoisted on several points of the coasts 
of the South Sea ; and Spain, in these latitudes 
then unknown to the nations of Europe, was 
not under the necessity of making its sovereignty 
otherwise respected. 

Upon advancing into the interior of the 
country, they never neglected building a tem- 
ple. They had taught the Indians to respect 
these asylums, by granting them their lives, 
when, after a defeat, they fled to them : these 
churches also served to induce the savages to 
quit their forests, by the attraction of the cere- 
monies in which the Spaniards always display 
much magnificence. 

But if they desired to establish themselves 
in places inhabited by these ferocious nations, the 
house of the curate was always fortified, while 
a ditch dug around the inclosure of the village, 
defended it against a surprise ; notwithstanding 



118 



TRAVELS IN THE 



these precautions, numbers of them were de- 
stroyed by the Panches and the Andaquis. Better 
informed of the enterprises and designs of the 
Spaniards, these two tribes waged a long and 
cruel war with them as late as the commence- 
ment of the last century. 

Although the establishments of New Gre- 
nada became every day more important, the 
people were still poor ; churches alone were 
ornamented, the dwellings were nothing but huts 
of mud and straw. To possess a cock and a hen, 
was to be rich ; a cow, a bull, and a horse, were 
a fortune. It was not till the seventeenth cen- 
tury, that some fowls were seen at Bogota, and 
the name of him who first introduced them, has 
been preserved with almost religious veneration. 

Provisions were then scarce and dear ; the 
usual food was the fruits of the earth, which 
were exceedingly multiplied, for no one ever 
travelled without carrying seeds with him. Glory 
consisted in gathering a new fruit, and luxury in 
presenting it to one's friend. 

After the lapse of a century, the face of the 
continent was changed ; forests were cut down 
to make room for orchards. Cattle were multi- 
plied in the rich pastures which bordered the 
banks of the rivers, horses and mules became 
more common ; and man, who without their 
assistance, laboured with difficulty, could, when 
possessing them, undertake larger operations, 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



119 



open roads, and increase the number of villages, 
for he was then enabled to transport at a small 
expence the produce of his fields. 

The villages were now enlarged, and the 
wretched fortifications, which formerly enclosed 
them, fell into ruins. Before the eighteenth 
century, towns began to be raised, at the head 
of which the capital Santa-Fe soon equalled 
those of Europe of the third class. 

This increase of the population occasioned 
a new division of South America. In 1718, New 
Grenada, dependent upon Peru, was erected into a 
viceroyalty ; and in 1 731, the provinces of Vene- 
zuela were placed under a particular government. 

Thus, in the space of a century, from a few 
scattered tribes of cannibals, and African slaves, 
a new Spanish people had arisen, having the same 
worship, government, laws, customs, and lan- 
guage ; Spain had not founded colonies, but had 
created nations and empires. Before being agri- 
culturists, the first American colonists were mer- 
chants ; this so enriched the maritime towns, 
that they soon acquired greater importance and 
extent than those of the interior. Carthagena 
and Panama especially became rich and populous. 
Afterwards, without disparagement to their in- 
terests, they found rivals in the inland towns, 
which, at length, eclipsed them when the people 
became agriculturists. Caracas, Santa-Fe, and 



120 



TRAVELS IN THE 



Quito, had no equals on the unhealthy coasts of 
the sea. 

Before undertaking any agricultural schemes 
of importance, capital was necessary. At the time 
of the conquest, the Spanish soldiers soon dissipat- 
ed what they had gained by pillage. The Jews and 
Moors, who had embraced Christianity, in order to 
be allowed to enter America, had bought up these 
spoils at a low rate ; and, being for the most 
part established at Popayan and Antioquia, they 
commenced working the mines so abundant in 
these provinces, and which had already been 
turned to some account by the Indians. Africans, 
transported at a vast expense into these distant 
countries, dug trenches in every direction, and 
following the system, which they had seen adopt- 
ed in their own country, confined themselves 
to washing the earth. 

The metal at length appeared in large quan- 
tities, and Spain then found that, if the conquest 
of Mexico had put her in possession of the richest 
silver mines in the world, that of New Grenada, 
had given her a territory abounding in gold. 
She had established a mint at Mexico, another at 
Popayan, and a third at Santa-Fe ; notwithstand- 
ing the clumsy method of the negroes, more than 
two millions of gold piastres were annually pro- 
duced from the smelting houses of New Grenada. 
Previously to the introduction of these establish- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



121 



ments, macuquina was the only money struck : 
this was a shapeless coin, without border or 
effigy of the prince ; individuals also could ob- 
tain the right of coining money, upon payment of 
a small douceur *. As may be supposed, Spain 
did not receive the whole of this precious metal ; 
on the contrary, she was obliged to pay a con- 
siderable part of the local expenses with money 
drawn from Mexico. The towns, however, were 
increased and beautified, and agriculture began 
to be in repute. 

It was divided into colonial agriculture and 
European agriculture: the former, in more able 
hands, would have made immense progress ; 
sugar, coffee, and cocoa, grew with wonderful 
fecundity ; the indigo and the cotton-tree were 
indigenous and wild plants. But all these were 
neglected ; Caracas alone undertook to at- 
tend to them, and its exportations consequently 
doubled those of the viceroyalty. The provinces 
which formed New Grenada being composed, for 
the most part, of cold regions, had lavished their 
money, and the sweat of their brow in cultivating 
our grains and fruits ; but with such little me- 
thod, that they scarcely could produce sufficient 
for their own consumption. Fruits, abandoned 
to the care of nature, resembled those of Europe 
in apppearance rather than in taste. 



* Jove. Memoria al virey Samanon. 



122 



TRAVELS IN THE 



The industry of all these countries was but 
very homely : a few manufactures of cottons 
for the clothing of the people, were to be found, 
and nothing more. Spain, upon this subject, was 
inexorable, notwithstanding her own manufactures 
were very limited ; and although she was thus 
obliged to purchase at foreign markets the articles 
necessary for her American colonies. Her only 
object, however, in these prohibitions, was a system 
of rule which should insure her an empire of 
three centuries. In fact, regarding their colonies 
as integral provinces of their empire, the kings 
of Spain had forbidden the culture of the vine at 
Quito, but had permitted it at Lima. Olive- 
trees were to be seen at Chili, while they were 
not allowed to be planted at Buenos Ayres. New 
Grenada was obliged to close up its silver mines, 
at the requisition of Mexico ; who, rich in its 
metallic operations, did not possess the right of 
undertaking agricultural or other enterprises, 
which would have interrupted its relations with 
the mother country. The small number of the 
inhabitants, their ignorance, the mildness of 
their character, their docility, the authority 
of the clergy, rendered it easy to establish any 
form of government ; but the distances, the dif- 
ficulty of communication, were obstacles to 
its consolidation not easily to be surmounted : 
each revolt might produce a schism. The mea- 
sures adopted were very sagacious, and displayed 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



123 



a rare foresight in the advisers of Charles V. The 
habits of both people were monarchical, but the 
licence of warfare, and the independance of the 
savage life, had imparted both to the conquerors 
and the conquered an impatience of controul 
difficult to be overcome. Both parties acknow- 
ledged the superiority of the mother city, and felt 
sensible that they stood in need of its support ; 
the former, for the peaceable enjoyment of their 
conquests : the latter, for the amelioration of 
their condition — all were anxious for a mixed 
government. In consequence, the superiority 
was preserved to the victor by the vice-royalty, 
and protection to the latter by the municipal 
code, — to all, a defence against European op- 
pression by the establishment of audiences. 

The country was divided into a vice-royalty 
and captaincy-general, subdivided into lieute- 
nancies, provinces, magistracies, commander- 
ships and missions. 

The government founded in America expe- 
rienced the lot of all human institutions : it was 
disfigured by abuses, the municipal government 
degenerated into a tyrannical oligarchy, because 
intelligence was rarely to be met with. The 
members of the audiences, whose duty it was to 
defend the oppressed, became themselves the 
oppressors. The vice-roys were deceived, or af- 
fected to be so, and were careless of their duties 
from an eagerness to advance their fortune ; and,, 



124 



TRAVELS IN THE 



lastly, the Council of Castille, established in 
1511, from the want of correct information, often 
pronounced erroneous decrees. 

But notwithstanding- all these defects, the 
Spanish colossus was firm and unshaken ; its 
coasts were ravaged, its seaport towns burnt, 
and its fortresses besieged ; but its territory was 
still untact. If Anson returned victorious from 
the South Sea, another English admiral, Vernon, 
being" repulsed at Cartbagena, retreated with his 
army in disgraceful flight, and found refuge in 
his fleet. Spain carefully guarded her widely- 
extended coasts ; and, notwithstanding her mis- 
fortunes and her decadence, she left to America 
the greater part of the treasures drawn from her 
bosom, in order that these countries might enjoy 
a tranquillity unknown to the mother country, 
upon which England made war every twenty 
years, in order to deprive her of the little riches 
she received from her colonies. 

It is an historical fact, unique of its kind, 
that, under the protection of a people few in 
number, without industry, without commerce, 
badly armed and defended by an ill-organized 
marine, a whole world enjoyed, without inter- 
ruption, a peace of three centuries. At the end 
of a century, the roads were all safe, the cannibal 
tribes had fled far from civilization, or had re- 
ceived its benefits ; morals, though not pure, 
were decent ; religion, every where respected by 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



125 



the people, drew still closer together the ties of 
society by the sacraments which render them in- 
dissoluble. A few soldiers in the capital formed 
the body-guard of the viceroy, but not a satel- 
lite was to be found in the other towns of the 
interior; the only use of arms was against the 
wild beasts. The different provinces had a free 
intercourse, which was kept up between the dif- 
ferent provinces ; that between New Grenada 
and Caracas was alone forbidden. The Spanish 
government, already foreseeing the dangerous 
ambition of the inhabitants of the plains, was 
anxious to prevent its crisis. The taxes were 
moderate, the navigation of the rivers, fishing, 
hunting, the clearing and draining of the lands, 
were all as yet unincumbered by any law. 
No right, but that of individuals, was as yet 
known ; provided their property was respected, 
the cutting down of trees, the changing the 
course of rivers, the destruction of animals ; in 
fact, an indulgence of every possible caprice was 
allowed, without paying any tax to government, 
or soliciting a special permission from rich and 
overgrown proprietors. 



126 



TRAVELS IN THE 



CHAPTER VII. 

Revolt of Socorro — Insurrection of 1794 — Spanish Viceroys — Revolt of Ca- 
racas in 1810 — Revolt of New Grenada — The Viceroy Amar — Mi- 
randa — Bolivar — Monteverde reconquers Caracas — Bolivar passes 
over to Curacao— He abandons it — Returns by Carthagena to Cara- 
cas—Is defeated — Crosses the Cordillera — Seizes Santa-Fe — Marches 
to attack Castillo at Carthagena — Is defeated — Passes over to Jamaica 
— General ambition — Morillo subjects the country. 

By one of those sudden impulses, which even the 
sagacious policy of Spain could not foresee, the 
Americans roused themselves from their lethar- 
gic supineness, and shook off the trammels of 
ignorance. 

In 1781, the imposition of a tax, called the 
Alcavala,* caused the province of Socorro to 
rise. For the first time the American population 
flew to arms ; and marched against the rebels, 
who had advanced even to the gates of Bogota. 
The archbishop, a man who was much esteemed, 
met them, and succeeded by his temperate and 
persuasive remonstrances in appeasing the tu- 
mult. The Socorro was pacified. As a reward for 
important service, the archbishop received the 
viceroyalty. Spain, ill at ease, immediately or- 

* Benedicto Domingues. Memoria Manuscrita. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



127 



dered the numerous and rebel population of the 
Socorro to be decimated, by sending a great 
portion of it to the pestilential plains of the 
coast. 

Spain now thought its empire as firmly reesta- 
blished as ever ; its foundations were, however, 
shaken. Every shock felt by the mother coun- 
try, vibrated even through the lowest hut of 
America. 

In 1794 the fermentation became more ge- 
neral in New Grenada. Some intelligence of the 
state of France had reached them, and the prin- 
ciples which were then prevalent there had found 
their way into South America ; the Rights of Man 
had even been published at Santa-Fe. This move- 
ment was suppressed, the copies of the book were 
burnt, and the translators of it, who were very 
young, were sent to Spain in irons. 

All these measures could not arrest the dan- 
gers which threatened the mother country ; they 
only retarded it. 

The news of the imprisonment of the King 
of Spain, in 1808, was a spark which kindled a 
general conflagration. French agents arrived 
in the name of Joseph, to demand from the Ca- 
racas the oath of fidelity. Their orders and pro- 
posals were answered by cries of long live Ferdi- 
nand VII, and by depriving of their situations 
all persons suspected of being attached to the 
French interest. This first act was the signal of 



128 



TRAVELS IN THE 



independence ; for the mad expedition of Miran- 
da, the agent of England, in 1806, did not extend 
beyond the capture of a few places : driven from 
his ephemeral conquests, this general had only 
time to effect his escape to Trinity Island. 

By a singular election, Spain had conferred 
the command of her provinces upon none but 
old men without capacity or courage — the soldiers 
who defended them, effeminated by a long- 
peace, gained over by gold and the blandish- 
ments of their friends, for a great number of 
them were Americans, desired nothing more than 
to betray the Spanish cause. Quito, which had 
already been in a state of revolt, in 1809, had, 
with difficulty, been made to return to her obe 
dience ; she was the first to raise again the stan- 
dard of rebellion, in 1810; this, however, did 
not affect the rest of the country. It was not 
the same with that of the Caracas, which burst 
out on the 19th of April, 1810, and was followed 
by a manifesto. In this the avowed object 
was that of guarding against the pretensions 
of Europe, the intrigues of the French cabi- 
net, and the designs which the central junta 
might have upon the country ; of maintaining 
the political character, of supporting to the ut- 
most, the legitimate dynasty of Spain ; of as- 
sisting Ferdinand VII on his liberation from cap- 
tivity, and of preserving the honour of the Spa- 
nish name, by offering an asylum to the refugees 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



129 



of that generous nation. The secret intentions of 
the conspirators were easily to be seen through, 
in the ambiguous expressions of the pretensions of 
Europe, and political character * 

It was not long before the revolution broke 
out at Santa- Fe : when the news arrived that all 
Spain had bowed beneath the yoke, it was no 
longer possible to prevent the insurrection ; the 
inhabitants flew to arms, under the pretext that 
the troops of Bonaparte were about to enter New 
Grenada. A junta was formed on the 23rd of 
July, 1810, which declared that they acknow- 
ledged Ferdinand VII as the sovereign of Cundi- 
marca, the ancient name which was again re- 
stored to the viceroyalty ; a courier was at the 
same time dispatched to Caracas, to inform that 
city of the resolutions which bad been adopted ; 
with orders to subscribe to them. Caracas then 
no longer dissembled its projects, and answered 
that it would never acknowledge kings, nor adopt 
any form of government but such as might be 
established by its representatives. 

The inhabitants of Santa-Fe de Bogota, al- 
though ignorant of the answer of the town of 
Caracas, did not themselves abide by their first 
resolution. 

The viceroy Amar, of a mild disposition, was 
incapable of adopting the measures required by 

* El Espagnol, a periodical work printed at London, 
1812. 

K 



130 



TRAVELS IN THE 



circumstances ; a quarrel between a Creol and 
a Spaniard, which was carefully inflamed, was 
the signal for revolt ; the viceroy was dragged 
to prison, and then, by a strange caprice, was 
placed a few days afterwards at the head of the 
government. Finally, on the 15th August, he 
was carried off from the palace, and sent to Car- 
thagena, under the pretext that it was his in- 
tention to sell America to Bonaparte at the rate 
of two reals per man and one real per woman ; 
the women carried their animosity so far as to ill 
treat the vice- queen. 

The news of this revolution soon spread 
through all the provinces, and each of them, de- 
claring its independance, had its congress, re- 
presentatives, ministers and presidents. It was 
a singular and novel spectacle to see ministers of 
state of one and twenty years of age, and presi- 
dents of four and twenty : the conduct of affairs 
was confided to rash and adventurous young 
men. 

What is worthy of remark in the American 
revolution, is the rare integrity of the viceroys. 
All fled, not one accepted a sceptre, which was 
doubtless offered them. 

It is difficult at first to understand why 
the military, who had taken up arms in the 
name of Ferdinand VII, should suddenly have 
declared against him. But the men who had 
every where placed themselves at the head of 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



131 



the insurrection, were the principal personages 
of the country, titled men ; little satisfied with 
the distinctions, which had been conferred upon 
them less as a reward for their merit, than as 
a compliment to their fortune, they imagined 
themselves called to pass from the rank of the 
first of American subjects, to that of sovereigns,* 
Accustomed to consider the favorites of the mo- 
narch as their masters, if they were not actually 
so, the people obeyed whatever impulse they 
gave them. As soon as regiments were formed, 
and discipline established, they looked upon the 
lieutenants, captains, and colonels, appointed by a 
dozen persons, as lawfully commissioned. Dur- 
ing several years, no others were known ; their 
names became dear to the multitude, for they 
spoke the language of enthusiasm, and employed 
the fascinating charm of American authority and 
glory, which began now to be separated from 
that of Spain. It was therefore not difficult to 
persuade the people to unfurl a standard dif- 
ferent from that of the mother country. 

In 1814, after the re-establishment of peace 

* One of the causes which have prevented the Spanish 
Monarchy in America from becoming-, like that of Charlemagne 
in its decadence a feudal government, is that there were 
none of those fortified castles in which the European nobility 
entrenched themselves, and defied their sovereign. In Ame- 
rica, all the towns, with the exception of a few maritime 
places, are unfortified. 

K 2 



132 



TRAVELS IN THE 



in Europe, the Spaniards reappeared in Ame- 
rica ; relying on their strength, they disdained 
to parley with the insurgents ; and before they 
called upon them to surrender, began by fir- 
ing on them. It was easy now for the Ame- 
rican chiefs to persuade their soldiers that the 
peninsula had sworn to exterminate them. Attack 
was therefore answered by defence. Thus, on one 
side, there were rebels, on the other, enemies ; 
the cause of Ferdinand VII was almost entirely 
abandoned. 

Miranda had returned to Caracas in 1811, 
and easily obtained the command of the troops. 
Unfortunate in his new expedition, he was obliged 
to fly to Guyara, to embark on board an 
English corvette, which was waiting for him in 
that port. As the governor of this place, was 
one of his creatures, he thought himself in per- 
fect safety : he was however deceived ; the offi- 
cers of the garrison determined to give him up 
to the Spanish general in order to secure their 
own pardon. He was accordingly delivered into 
the hands of the Spanish commander, who, upon 
this condition, gave a free pardon to all the garri- 
son of la Guyara. Miranda, sent from prison to 
prison, at length died in that of Cadiz. 

In 1533, the overflowing of the Cotapaxi, 
coincident with the arrival of the Spaniards, had 
struck terror into the Indians, and the conquest 
of Quito by foreigners, was the consequence 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



133 



of this convulsion of nature. A similar event 
insured them victory two hundred and seventy 
nine years afterwards, that is in 1812. In the 
alarming earthquake which desolated Caracas 
on the 26th. of March of that year, the people 
imagined they saw the hand of God punishing 
rebellion. They every where demanded their 
former masters, abjured their errors, and Mon- 
teverde, without any difficulty, reconquered Ve- 
nezuela. 

The joy at being again united to the mother 
country was now general, when, suddenly renounc- 
ing the clemency which had insured him victory, 
Monteverde imprisoned the sons of all the most 
respectable families, and by thus oppressing the 
province, furnished fresh pretexts to the insur- 
gents. 

The English were at that time in possession 
of Curasao, which they made the centre of the 
continental revolution, although they no longer 
subsidized it so liberally, but had almost aban- 
doned it to the chance of events. Bolivar lived 
at Curasao under their protection. The faults 
of Monteverde were the origin of his ambition. 
Encouraged by the English, and by his own 
immense property, he imagined that he could 
conquer the provinces which were smarting under 
the tyranny of Monteverde, and act the part of 
Washington. 

He set out for Carthagena at the head of 



134 



TRAVELS IN THE 



fifty followers, took the route of Monpox, Ocana 
and Cucuta, and met the Spanish general Correa, 
whom he defeated ; his numbers now increasing 
as he advanced into the interior, he appeared 
under the walls of Valentia. Here he found 
Monteverde, a battle ensued, and fortune de- 
cided in favour of audacity. Monteverde, beaten* 
escaped to Puerto Caballo and took refuge 
within its walls. Valentia opened its gates to 
the conqueror. He did not stop here, but in the 
month of August 1819, entered Caracas, which 
he soon after quitted to re-enter Valentia. 

Upon the intelligence of Monteverde's defeat, 
Bobes, who was at the head of a thousand cavalry, 
marched against Bolivar, and routed him, Cara- 
cas again returned to its duty. These reverses 
did not however discourage Bolivar ; he did not 
seek refuge amid the forests of the Oronooko, 
but scaling the Cordillera, arrived at Tunja, 
and found victory where he only sought for an 
asylum. 

Narino, who, when younger, had distinguished 
himself by revolutionary principles, had returned 
into the kingdom. His name was sufficient to 
place him at the head of the insurrections which 
he had so ably directed. All the members of the 
congress, established at Santa-Fe, had retired, af- 
ter investing him with a dictatorship, so much 
the object of his wishes. 

A congress had been established in each pro- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



135 



vince ; so that Narino was only acknowledged 
in that of Santa-Fe. This was however too small 
a theatre for his ambition, an army was therefore 
dispatched under the command of Barra'ia, to es- 
tablish his authority in the provinces of Tunjaand 
Socorro, the inhabitants of which were parti- 
zans of a federative government. But he had 
confided arms to traitors, the soldiers and their 
chief being gained over by the congress of Tun- 
ja, disobeyed his orders and marched against him. 
They encamped to the number of 5,000 men upon 
Montcerrate, a mountain at the foot of which 
Santa-Fe is situated, Narino had only 2,000. He 
offered his enemies to capitulate, asking permis- 
sion to retire, but was refused. Upon hearing the 
answer of Barrai'a, despair and rage inflamed the 
little band of the dictator of Santa-Fe, and avail- 
ing himself of this disposition, he rushed upon 
the rebels, completely defeatedthem, and re- en- 
tered Santa-Fe victorious. 

This city, which had been for three centuries 
the capital of a vast kingdom, refused to enter 
into the confederations which the other provinces 
were desirous of establishing, for this would have 
destroyed the supremacy it still enjoyed. In 
vain did it plead its situation, its riches, and 
the services it had rendered the cause of inde- 
pendence ; the provinces constantly refused to 
acknowledge it as the centre of government. 

The congress of Tunja in the mean time 



136 



TRAVELS IN THE 



participated in the consternation spread through- 
out the country by the victory gained over Bar- 
rai'a. Narino knew not how to profit by his 
success, while the turbulent congress of Tunja, 
did not lose the opportunity of getting rid of the 
object of its fears. Quito, which had been in a 
state of insurrection a year previous to the gene- 
ral revolution, had again fallen into the power of 
the Spaniards. Pasto was about to share the 
same fate. Narino was offered the command of 
the army on the 9th of January 1813. Remem- 
bering that empire could only be attained by 
attaching the army to him by the ties of victory, 
he accepted it, began his march, and defeated the 
Spaniards in two engagements ; but was himself 
completely routed in a third. 

At his departure, he had made very prudent 
arrangements, having placed at the head of the 
government his uncle Alvares, who participated 
his hatred against the congress and the confede- 
ration. It was soon known at Santa-Fe, that Na- 
rino, after having lost his army, had fallen into 
the hands of the enemy. The factious re-com- 
menced their machinations, but were restrained 
for some time by the firmness of Alvares, whose 
efforts however, were at last paralyzed by a still 
more dreadful war than the former. 

The reader already knows that in 1814, Bo- 
livar, defeated in Venezuela by General Bobes, 
had escaped to Tunja, accompanied by a small 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



137 



number of soldiers of the plains. He proposed 
to the congress, who were uneasy respecting the 
proceedings of Alvares, to march against him. 
His offer was joyfully accepted, and a few sol- 
diers were added to those already under his or- 
ders. Upon Alvares learning- the invasion of this 
new enemy, he dispatched troops against him, 
they were defeated, and Bolivar, without losing 
an instant, followed up his success with such 
ardour, that he entered Santa-Fe, while his 
enemies still supposed him in the mountains. 

The taking of this town cost some blood ; 
Narino being 1 much beloved by the soldiers of 
Alvares. In three days however all opposition was 
at an end, and Alvares, no longer able to defend 
himself, delivered into the victor's hands that 
dictatorship, which his nephew had lost toge- 
ther with his liberty in the mountains of Pasto. 

Thus in the nineteenth century, were re- 
newed the wars which the Spanish captains waged 
with each other at the commencement of the 
conquest. This first invasion of the Cordillera, 
by the savage tribes of the plains, caused much 
distress to the peaceful inhabitants, by giving 
them a foretaste of the wars, and dreadful irrup- 
tions which they must one day expect from the 
same quarter. 

Bolivar was hated by his fellow citizens of 
Caracas, and little liked by the people he had just 



138 



TRAVELS IN THE 



subdued ; the former being jealous of his success, 
the latter, because they had for a long time con- 
sidered the inhabitants of Caracas as foreigners. 
It was for this reason, that in 1815 when he re- 
quired a considerable sum to enable him to 
march against Castillo, his personal enemy, who 
was shut up in Carthagena, it was so readily 
granted him. The battle took place under the 
walls of that city, here Bolivar's good fortune 
abandoned him, as he was completely defeated, 
and his soldiers dispersed. Being fortunate 
enough to obtain permission to exile himself, 
he embarked for Jamaica, whence he proceeded 
to St. Domingo. Here a dutch man of the name 
of Brion, assisted him with funds, and Boli- 
var again set out for the continent, disembarked 
at Marguerita, marched to Guyara, and amid 
the deserts of that country, continued to har- 
rass the generals who were sent against him from 
Caracas. So many battles, attended with such 
various success, together with the legislative 
assemblies created in every province, had given 
rise to a general ambition. Every one was 
aiming at the dictatorship, and preparations were 
being made on all sides to wrest it from the 
hands of respective rivals, when Morillo, who 
had arrived from Spain, with a well disciplined 
body of troops, presented himself before Car- 
thagena : this place was vigorously defended, 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



139 



but at last European tactics prevailed ; the 
Columbians were vanquished, and the gates of 
Carthagena were opened to the victor. 

The respect which Spain still commanded, 
was favourable to the march of the Spanish ge- 
neral, and the inflexibility of his character sub- 
dued all opposition. One faction only now re- 
mained, that of the metropolis, Morillo marched 
against the capital, which, far from making the 
least opposition, received the conqueror with 
transports of delight. 

But these days of joy were soon changed 
into those of sorrow. Spain having imagined 
that the prodigious success of the convention in 
1793, was only owing to the system of terror it 
had adopted, imitated this fatal example in Ame- 
rica. The most dreadful means were resorted 
to for the purpose of intimidating the insurgents. 

European pride had persuaded the greater 
part of the Spanish soldiers, that the Americans 
were without energy or courage ; and they con- 
sequently treated them with the same contempt, 
as Quesada, Pizarro, and Cortez had done the 
native Indians. 

Times, however, had changed ; to men ill 
armed and terrified at the sight even of the 
Spaniards, had succeeded a race, mild, indeed, 
in disposition, but courageous and conscious of 
their equality with the inhabitants of the other 
hemisphere. 



140 



TRAVELS IN THE 



The more Americans Morillo ordered to be 
shot, the more the general discontent increased. 
The latter had imagined that the Spaniards 
would return to the system of mildness and pa- 
rental affection, which they had followed for 
three centuries ; but, on the contrary, found in 
them only executioners ; they had hoped the 
Spaniards would regard as brothers men who 
were estimable for their intelligence and ac- 
quirements ; the Spaniards hastened to teach 
them that knowledge only entitled them to pro- 
scription and death. The Spanish generals, after 
having glutted their fury and satisfied their 
pride, by humbling the men of the New World, 
who had dared to place themselves in competi- 
tion with them, thought they had for ever in- 
sured the obedience of the rest of the inhabi- 
tants. Considering the silence of terror as 
complete submission, they lived in the utmost 
security. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



141 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Samanou Viceroy — Spanish Soldiers— American Soldiers — Bolivar returns 
to Santa-Fe — Proceeds to Quito — Afterwards to Guayaquil — Charac- 
ter of the principal Generals. 

After having reconquered New Grenada, Mo- 
rillo employed himself in the pacification of 
Venezuela, and every thing appearing tranquil 
in the capital, he left Samanon there as viceroy. 
This simple old man, faithful to the system of 
barbarity and conscription, that formerly ren- 
dered the name of the Duke of Alba so justly 
odious, and being from his age the irrecon- 
cilable antagonist of every one that opposed his 
ideas, augmented the number both of the vic- 
tims and of the enemies of his country. All the 
Americans fearing lest they should be placed 
upon the lists of the proscribed, escaped into 
the open country, where Santander converted 
them into soldiers.* 

Morillo was soon at Caracas, where he found 
a few European soldiers, but, knowing the dis- 
advantages which he should experience in the 
plains against the savage inhabitants, he dreaded 
plunging into the forests of the Oronooko, where 

* Jove, Memoria manuscr. 



142 



TRAVELS JN THE 



he might probably encounter Bolivar, and possi- 
bly get defeated. 

In fact, the Americans of the nineteenth 
century, were far superior in courage and ability 
to those who existed in the fifteenth, but it was 
not the same case with the Spaniards ; the heat, 
thirst, and the difficulty of marching through the 
country, which were no obstacles to their fore- 
fathers, were to them absolutely insupportable. 

They no longer possessed that force of cha- 
racter, that intense ardour, that unconquerable 
valour, which had been transmitted to their an- 
cestors with their Moorish blood. They were 
unable to endure, like them, the burning heat of 
the sun, while long marches with light cover- 
ings so lacerated their feet, that they were often 
obliged to remain shut up in the towns. Their 
arms were too heavy for their strength ; they 
were in want of magazines and fresh provisions ; 
and they would have perished with hunger, if 
their general, like another Cortez, had set fire to 
their vessels. 

The Americans, on the contrary, marched 
barefoot, and contenting themselves with a few 
bananas, required no strong liquors to animate 
their courage ; for, if they carried these with 
them, it was to comfort those English soldiers, 
who had taken part in their quarrel. Their 
former dread of horses and fire-arms was anni- 
hilated, and they mounted the backs of the one, 



REPUBLIC OP COLOMBIA. 



143 



and availed themselves of the destructive powers 
of the other, with a rare degree of skill. Ac- 
customed, in their forests, to the pursuit either 
of wild beasts, or of their flocks almost as wild, 
they had acquired by this exercise the art of 
avoiding dangers, or the power of despising 
them, and they often employed no other wea- 
pons than the lance and the snare, which they 
used in the chase of savage animals. 

It was then neither the antient Americans 
nor the antient Spaniards, who found themselves 
opposed to each other ; both had experienced a 
change, and power had passed by inheritance to 
the inhabitants of the New World. 

Perhaps Spain would have acted wisely had 
she recruited her armies, either in the islands or 
upon the shores of Africa, and not have exposed 
her children to a climate too hot for the consti- 
tutions of Europeans ; in fact, they only possessed 
either physical or mental strength, under the 
temperate climate of the Cordilleras, for upon 
descending into the plains, the most valiant 
disgracefully took to flight. 

Alarmed with such a succession of misfor- 
tunes, the Spanish generals took advantage of 
the jealousies of the Americans, and engaged 
their assistance to fight the cause of Europe ; 
but they very little understood the art of ma- 
naging these ambitious men, who could not see 
without displeasure their rights usurped by the 



144 TRAVELS IN THE 

arrival of Europeans, who were always admitted 
into the army as the superiors of the native 
officers, but never as their equals ; and as if this 
were not sufficient to damp the exertions of 
their auxiliaries, their devotion to the Spanish 
cause was treated with indifference, and seldom 
indeed rewarded with the least eulogiuni or 
recompense ; on the contrary, no occasion was 
allowed to escape for demanding fresh sacrifices, 
which, when made, were received with disdain. 
Ignorant both of the means and of the value of 
effacing these differences between the American 
and the European, between the white and the 
black man, the Spanish officers seemed rather 
to be desirous of rendering them more conspi- 
cuous, and to take pleasure in showing, by the 
most marked insults, the contempt they enter- 
tained for those Americans, who, by their dis- 
tinguished services, had obtained the rank of 
sub-lieutenant. 

The soldiers of Bolivar, enrolled under the 
banners of a chief of their own nation, fought 
with ardor; and even his companions in arms, 
surmounting that jealousy always excited by 
the elevation of an equal, were warmly attached 
to him. — They but little understood the precise 
meaning of the words Liberty and Independence, 
but they were sensible of marks of distinction, 
and Bolivar judiciously created and distributed 
them. — The camps of the Spaniards were abun- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



145 



dantly supplied, while every thing was wanting 
in that of their opponents; yet desertions from it 
were very rare, and the scarcity passed unnoticed, 
for the Americans had always been accustomed 
to similar privations. — At first there was some 
difficulty in bringing them to face the Spaniards, 
but at length they learnt to beat them. They 
also had the advantage of being perfectly ac- 
quainted with the country ; while in their fellow 
countrymen, they every where found brethren, 
who aided them in the pursuit of their object, or 
concealed them when threatened with danger. 
The horses, well broken in were under more 
command than those belonging to the Spaniards, 
and like their masters could endure long fasts 
without much injury. Their arms were rude, 
but the address with which they were managed 
rendered them terrible. The chiefs possessed the 
same turbulent activity as the private soldiers, 
and knowing besides their habits, their sports, 
and their manners, far from wearying them with 
an oppressive discipline, they showed themselves 
to be their fellow warriors by participating in 
the same pleasures. 

This management of his troops was the 
great art of Bolivar ; his partisans in their en- 
thusiasm have compared him to Ceesar, but he 
much more nearly resembles Sertorius. Like 
him, he had to reduce a savage people to obe- 
dience, and to combat a powerful and ex- 

L 



146 



TRAVELS IN THE 



perienced nation. The places of contest were 
nearly alike, for there was, in this portion of 
America, the same difficulties to surmount in the 
badness of the roads, and the height of the 
mountains, as existed in Spain in the time of 
Sertorius. Like him, Bolivar, disconcerted his 
enemies by the rapidity of his marches, by the 
suddenness of his attacks, and by the celerity of 
his flights, which rendered it easy for him to re- 
pair his defeats at a distance. In the mountains, 
he displayed the same activity as in the plains, 
and set an example of sobriety and temperance 
to his troops, whose numbers he thus increased 
from those of a small band until they formed 
a powerful and irresistible army. If his military 
tactics were different from those of the Spaniards, 
his conduct was still more so. He knew how to 
gain the affections of mankind, by pardoning 
the vanquished and those who had deserted the 
cause of their country ; thus he increased their 
numbers. The priests even did not refuse him 
their prayers, for he respected their ministry, 
which had often been despised by the Spaniards, 
since their wars with the French ; and finally, by 
flattering the pride of the Americans, in con- 
stantly extolling their valour and intelligence, he, 
by these encomiums, rendered the disdain with 
which the Spaniards treated them still more in- 
supportable. iMorillo was therefore little desi- 
rous of encountering on the banks of the Oro- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



147 



nooko, this able chief endowed with the talents 
of William of Nassau, to whom the Low Coun- 
tries were indebted for their liberation in the reign 
of Philip the II ; and he turned his arms with 
more hopes of success againt the Isle of Mar- 
guerita, peopled with fifteen thousand men of 
colour, and commanded by Irismendi an officer 
of great bravery. 

This bulwark of American independence 
proved fatal to Morillo. His army was comple- 
tely defeated, and being obliged to return to 
Caracas, to his great chagrin he found himself 
confined to this place, nearly all his soldiers 
having been either slain in the field or laid up in 
the hospitals. 

He was in this situation when three thou- 
sand men arrived from Spam, under the com- 
mand of brigadier general Canterac, but he 
did not avail himself of this reinforcement until 
1818, when he entered Calabozo. Bolivar who, for 
many months, had been wandering in the plains of 
Casanara, surprised him here in the night, and 
pursued him to the gates of Valentia. 

The Spaniards being here reinforced, attacked 
Bolivar in their turn, put him to the rout, and 
forced him to retreat once more to the province 
of Casanara. He there found new recruits ; its 
ferocious inhabitants eagerly desired to be led 
to battle. These shepherds, whose flocks from 
their wild state scarcely needed masters, were 

l2 



148 



TRAVELS IN THE 



always ready to march when the hope of pillage 
was held out to them. 

In 1819, Bolivar offered them that of Santa- 
Fe ; they immediately cleared the icy paramos 
of the Cordilleras, and near Sogamoso found 
the advanced guard of the army of the vice- 
roy, who had advanced upon receiving news of 
Bolivar's enterprise. This however proved no 
check to the latter, who under favour of the night 
escaped Barreira, general of the Spanish troops, 
and leaving him behind him, proceeded by forced 
marches upon Santa-Fe. Barreira, fearing lest 
Bolivar should enter this place, and, that favoured 
by a numerous party, he should make himself 
master of it, followed him with all expedition, 
and encountered him at Boyaca, a place situated 
nearTunja. After a sanguinary contest, Barreira 
was completely defeated, and was taken prisoner 
with twenty eight officers, who were all shot by 
Bolivars orders. This was the first act of re- 
prisals of the Americans against the Spaniards; 
it has not been the only one. 

The disgraceful flight of Samanon and the re- 
capture of the chief town of the Cordilleras, by 
the inhabitants of the plains, enabled Bolivar 
to realize his promises to them ; warehouses full 
of goods together with the cash and jewels of 
those who had taken part with the Spaniards, 
were the recompense of this expedition. 

Bolivar was no longer an obscure partizan ; 



REPUBLIC OP COLOMBIA. 



149 



to have escaped, although beaten, from Morillo, 
to have seized upon the capital of the empire, and 
driven thence the representative of his king, to 
have defeated, with a few savages, eight thousand 
regular troops, elevated the conqueror of Boyaca 
to a formidable rank in the public opinion. 

He was now left tranquilly to increase the 
splendour of his fame, for which, in the sequel, he 
was less indebted to his arms than to his policy, 
which more peaceably terminated the year 1821. 

Master of Santa-Fe, Bolivar quickly re- 
descended into the plains of Caracas ; frequent 
encounters took place between his soldiers and 
those of Morillo ; but the success was nearly 
equal. The chief of the independants was how- 
ever more fortunate in an interview which he 
had with the Spanish general, for he induced 
him to agree upon a truce for six months ; this 
the Americans violated by seizing Maracai'bo. 
When hostilities recommenced, Morillo had re- 
turned to Spain, and was succeeded in the com- 
mand of the army by Latorre. This general was 
attacked at Carabobo by Bolivar, and being less 
favored by fortune than his predecessor, was put 
to flight, and only escaped the enemy by taking 
refuge within the walls of Puerto Cabello. 

Thus in 1821, Spain from despising the 
advice which had been given her of engaging- 
Europe to support her in her contest with the 
American colonies by sharing them with her, 



150 



TRAVELS IN THE 



had lost her troops and her treasures in en- 
deavouring to regain those countries, the eon- 
quest of which had formerly been effected without 
arms or money. No further resistance was offered 
to the authority of the dictator Bolivar ; a con- 
gress having assembled at Cucuta to regulate the 
basis of a new government, and the disorganizing 
principles of a federation between the insurgent 
provinces being buried in oblivion, all ambition 
ceased. 

The war however again broke out in the 
south ; and although at first it was considered 
only as a rebellion, it afterwards assumed the 
aspect, and brought with it all the horrors, of 
a civil war. Many that had fought against the 
Spaniards now began to regret their govern- 
ment, and preferred obeying masters rather than 
equals whose pride rendered them insupportable. 
Many partisans of the confederation, who had 
hoped to obtain new dignities under this regime, 
saw with regret that they had contributed towards 
the destruction of the Spanish dominion, without 
reaping any of those advantages from the revo- 
lution which they had expected. Even the con- 
querors after having re-united the provinces of 
the plains and those of the mountains under the 
same government, ridiculed the founders of the 
former republic, by designating it patria boba, 
or the country of fools ; under which name were 
comprehended all the adherents of Narino. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



151 



Recourse was therefore had to arms, and 
in 1822, the insurrection of Pasto seemed to re- 
quire the presence of Bolivar himself with five 
thousand men. 

The chain of mountains which intersect this 
province affords an easy means of defence ; craggy 
rocks, deep marshes, and impenetrable forests, 
inspire the inhabitants with a boldness always 
fatal to invaders. Bolivar attempted it, but found 
insurmountable obstacles both in the local dif- 
ficulties and the courage of the people; having 
nearly fallen into their hands, he escaped swear- 
ing to respect their liberty, and to allow them if 
they choose to obey the Spaniards. On this con- 
dition, which he bound himself to observe by 
the most solemn oaths he was permitted to with- 
draw. 

A short time afterwards, at the head of fresh 
forces, he again entered the province, and after 
subduing it, marched to the assistance of his 
lieutenant Sucre who dared not attack Quito 
with the few troops under his command. 

Aimerichs, a covetous old man was now at 
the head of the Spanish army, and conducted them 
against Bolivar ; but, paralyzed by age, he was 
unable to obtain the least success with troops, 
who being chiefly composed of Americans, paid 
no respect to a man so destitute of capacity : all 
was consequently in confusion, and his orders 
were continually either neglected or misunder- 



152 



TRAVELS IN THE 



stood. There was indeed no discipline in either 
army ; but the esteem in which Bolivar was held, 
supplied its place, and produced an obedient 
respect for his person. 

The Spaniards, or rather the American Spa- 
niards, were thus soon put to flight by the inde- 
pendent Americans in a battle which took the 
name of Pitchincha, from its being fought in the 
vicinity of that dreadful volcano. The whole of 
the province was quickly subdued, and the re- 
mainder of the Spanish troops only saved their 
lives by soliciting the favour either of exiling 
themselves, or of betraying their standards : 
both conditions were granted them ; a small num- 
ber preferred misfortune to dishonour; the greater 
part, however, sided with the conqueror, and 
more than four hundred European Spaniards took 
the oath of fidelity to him. 

Guayaquil, which, under the Spanish govern- 
ment, had at one time been given to Peru, and 
at another to New Grenada, still hesitated which 
party to embrace ; but Bolivar soon fixed its 
indecision, and, marching against this opulent 
city, included it among those of the republic 
founded by him. 

The American generals who have most dis- 
tinguished themselves in all these wars are : Bo- 
livar, Santander, Sucre, Urdaneta, Bermudes, 
Paes, Montilla, and Padilla. — Bolivar is forty- 
two years of age ; his military abilities, and his 



REPUBLIC OP COLOMBIA. 



153 



political character, have already been considered; 
his disinterestedness is greatly extolled, his income 
being principally devoted to the payment of the 
pensions which he allows to the widows and 
children of the soldiers who have fallen in battle. 

Although his education had been much ne- 
glected, a residence of some length in Europe 
had given to him a taste for languages and his- 
tory, in which he made a rapid progress. He 
has already been compared to Sertorius ; and, 
in fact, his manner of making war, his long 
marches to come up with his enemy, together 
with the quickness with which he traverses 
immense distances, give an idea rather of a bold 
partisan than of a general competent to the 
wielding of large masses ; two thousand more 
men would probably have embarrassed his 
plans. 

Nor is he supposed to possess more pro- 
found views in the art of governing. He has 
hitherto contented himself with founding a re- 
public, which is but a bad imitation of that of 
the United States, and which he can only main- 
tain by a standing army. This is chiefly com- 
posed of shepherds, who followed him from the 
plains to the heights of Santa-Fe ; it is in this 
portion of his troops that he places his chief con- 
fidence, and as the greater part of them belong 
to the cast of mulattoes, he is obliged to pay them 
great attention and to conciliate them by frequent 
rewards. 



154 



TRAVELS IN THE 



A happy chance has hitherto rendered him 
invulnerable ; his enemies, therefore, say that 
he possesses no courage ; but can this be the 
case with him who aspires to the supreme go- 
vernment ? He is not wanting in eloquence, for 
his speeches possess great warmth of sentiment, 
though they are often diffuse ; but this it must be 
admitted, is a fault difficult to be avoided in the 
Spanish language. 

He married in early youth, in Spain, and a 
few years afterwards lost his wife, since which 
he appears determined to pass the remainder 
of his days as a widower. The possession of a 
throne has not yet tempted him. Miranda said, 
that America was not destined to be a republic ; 
and Bolivar does not think it calculated to be- 
come a kingdom worthy of vying with those of 
Europe. 

The title of Liberator, by which he distin- 
guishes himself, is new in modern languages, 
and is synonymous with those of dictator and 
protector. His tyranny has not yet been com- 
plained of, and had he not now begun to exile 
the discontented, and to confiscate their property, 
the only thing he could have been reproached 
with would have been, that he has sometimes 
used reprisals in war. 

Santander was very young when he entered 
the army. Narino distinguished him, and made 
him a lieutenant : he afterwards marched against 
this general with Barrai'a. When the Spaniards 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 155 

were in possession of Santa-Fe, he established^ 
himself in the plains of Meta, where he formed a 
band of three thousand men, with which he after- 
wards joined Bolivar ; a reinforcement which 
powerfully contributed towards gaining the battle 
of Boyaca. His well-known firmness gave him a 
title to the vice-presidency, in which situation he 
has displayed the possession of such talents and 
merit as are seldom to be found. 

Sucre is not yet thirty years of age, and, like 
Santander, has acquired his distinctions by gain- 
ing a battle for Bolivar, namely, that of Pitchin- 
cha, which procured him the post of command- 
ant-general of Quito. 

Urdanita, descended from a respectable 
family at Santa-Fe, lias the merit of possessing 
much courage ; he has been ill for some time, 
and seems to have retired from the service by ac- 
cepting the presidency of the senate. 

Bermudes, fifty years of age, was born at 
Cumana, and entered early into the American 
revolution, in which he has acquired an influence 
which though considerable, is not however equal 
to that of some of his companions in arms. 

A khan of Tartars, an Arabian sheik, has 
given the rudest shocks to the Spanish power in 
America. — The mulatto Paes, at the head of a 
few thousands of his savage lancers, has often 
defeated whole squadrons of disciplined troops ; 
particularly the hussars of Ferdinand VII. This 



156 



TRAVELS IN THE 



man, who, upon the banks of the Oronooko, 
might easily play the part of Artigas upon those 
of La Plata, remains faithful to Bolivar, whose 
generous conduct and affable manners have 
gained his attachment. 

Paes affects great luxury and particular po- 
liteness ; yet, notwithstanding the vanity natural 
to a savage, he lives upon terms of perfect equa- 
lity with his troops ; when he is with them, their 
food, their games, and their exercises, are his 
own. No one rides a horse better than he, or 
wields a lance with more dexterity, or attacks an 
enemy with more fury. He thus possesses abso- 
lute power over his undisciplined hordes, who, 
tractable towards a leader that sets them an 
example of courage, obey him with the submis- 
sion of slaves. His fortune has been considerably 
augmented by numerous gifts, and thus Spain 
has been deprived of a man, who has become the 
terror of her troops. 

Montilla, the rival of the chief of the Llanos, 
formerly served in the body-guard in Spain, and 
expected to find in the revolution the means of 
improving his fortune. The influence he enjoys 
appears dangerous in the eyes of the government ; 
and, although he has been stationed at Cartha- 
gena, he is still too near to Caracas, where the 
persons of influence are desirous of opposing a 
chief to Bolivar, and would willingly choose 
Montilla : his manners are very prepossessing, 



REPUBLIC OP COLOMBIA* 



157 



and having been educated in Europe, he ex- 
presses himself with facility, an advantage not 
common to the majority of Colombians. 

He is accused of falsehood, and his reserve 
and apparent contradictions are considered as 
proofs of duplicity ; but it is his ambition which 
fears discovery and endeavours to conceal itself. 
It is also known that he has some causes of ha- 
tred which are rarely ever forgotten. He cer- 
tainly must bear in mind, that Bolivar, in 1811, 
in a moment of passion, swore to shoot him if he 
could lay hold of him ; and, confounding Miran- 
da with the patriotic party, he will doubtless re- 
collect, that this general had promised to expose 
him for twenty-four hours to public view in an 
iron cage. 

The mulatto Padilla is a general whose ser- 
vices have not been without advantage to Ame- 
rican independence. This pilot of Carthagena, 
raised by the revolution to the command of a 
flotilla, contributed more than any one else to 
the capture of Carthagena from the Spaniards, 
and subsequently that of Maraca'ibo. Sacrificed 
at first to the party that Montilla wishes to de- 
fend, he has since been re-established with a 
fresh degree of importance ; a circumstance 
which has produced great joy among the people 
of colour, who were not ignorant that the dispute 
between the two generals was a quarrel of colour. 

All these men, at present the subalterns of 



158 



TRAVELS IN THE 



Bolivar, appear rather his equals than his lieute- 
nants ; but, after his death, or even after a de- 
feat, it is possible they may put themselves at 
the head of the party that they have secured to 
their interests. It is in this particular that Boli- 
var will most resemble Alexander. Paes, with 
his negroes, will occupy the plains ; Montilla, 
Caracas ; Padilla, the coasts ; and Sucre, Quito. 
Thus all depends upon the existence of Bolivar. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



159 



CHAPTER IX. 

The new government — Constitution of Cucuta — Division of the country 
into departments — Renewal of the Cabildos — Civil laws — Justice — 
Congress — The Executive Power. 

When the Spaniards had abandoned the Ame- 
rican territory, Bolivar, supreme master of all 
the country, abdicated the dictatorship ; but 
perhaps in divesting himself of this power, he 
only made himself more certain of exercising it. 
He afterwards enployed himself in forming a 
government for the provinces of Caracas, and 
New Grenada, and in cementing their unions 
in order to make but one republic under the 
name of Colombia. 

A congress at San-Toma (Guyana) had al- 
ready, on the 17th of December 1819, formed one 
upon the model of that of the United States; 
but this was designed only for the province of 
Venezuela. 

A fresh congress was therefore assembled at 
Cucuta, on the 18th of July 1821, and the re- 
union of the two provinces of New Grenada, 
and of Venezuela was here decreed. The first 
however preserved its ancient supremacy, because 
the seat of government was fixed at Santa-Fe, 



160 



TRAVELS IN THE 



although it was ultimately resolved that it 
should be established at C acuta, in bestowing* 
on that town the name of Bolivar. 

Venezuela, the birth place of the chief of 
the republic, possessed all the appointments. 

On the 30th of August 1821, the constitution 
of Colombia was proclaimed at Cucuta. It is 
composed of ten chapters, and one hundred 
and ninety articles, of which the following are 
the principal :* 

The government of Colombia is that of a 
popular representation. 

In each parish there is an assembly of the 
people, which meets every four years on the last 
Sunday in the month of July. 

The right of voting belongs to every Co- 
lombian, who has attained twenty one years 
of age, who can read and write, and who pos- 
sesses the sum of one hundred piastres. 

The members of this assembly name the 
electors of the cantons, who must be twenty- 
five years of age, possess land of the value 
of five hundred piastres, or an income of three 
hundred piastres. 

These electors of the canton, form the pro- 
vincial assembly which meets every four years 
on the first of October. Their office is to elect 
the president and vice-president of the republic, 



* Cuerpo de Leyes de la republica de Colombia. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA, 



161 



the senators of the department, and the repre- 
sentative or representatives of the province. 
The electors exercise their functions for four 
years. 

The legislative power is confided to a con- 
gress divided into two chambers, that of the 
senate and that of the representatives. 

The requisite qualifications of a senator, are, 
his being a native Creole of thirty years of age, 
his possessing a property of four thousand dollars 
in land or an annual revenue of five hundred 
dollars, or his exercising a learned profession ; 
or, if the candidate be a foreigner, he must 
have resided in the country twelve years, and 
must possess landed property to the value of 
sixteen thousand dollars. 

Four senators are named for each depart- 
ment ; the duration of their functions is, for two 
of them, eight years, and for the other two, 
only four years. The differences are to be decid- 
ed by lot, so that, according to the law, one 
half of the senate may be renewed every four 
years. 

The impeachment of the public function- 
aries belongs exclusively to the senate. 

The chamber of representatives is composed 
of deputies elected in the ratio of one for 30,000 
souls ; but there are some provinces where this 
number is not necessary. When the number of 
one hundred representatives is completed, the 

M 



162 



TRAVELS IN THE 



elections are to be continued, if permitted by 
the increase of the population, at the rate of 
one deputy for 40,000, or even for 50,000 souls, 
until the chamber be increased to one hundred 
and fifty deputies. 

To be a deputy the person must be twenty- 
five years of age, and a landed proprietor to 
the amount of two thousand dollars, or 500 
dollars of income, or a professor ; a residence of 
two years in the country before the time of elec- 
tion, or of eight years, if not born in Colombia 
is also required, and in the latter case the quali- 
fication is increased to ten thousand dollars of 
landed property. 

The chamber of representatives has an exclu- 
sive right of impeaching before the senate, the 
president, vice president, and ministers of the 
republic. 

Publicity of discussion, the exclusion of all 
the principal public officers from the legislative 
functions, and the inviolability of the mem- 
bers during the existence of their term of elec- 
tion, with an allowance* for their expenses, are 
articles common to both chambers. 

The principal business of the legislative 
body is to fix the expenses of the state ; to 

* The representatives receive nine dollars per day, during 
the whole time of the sessions, besides one dollar per day for 
their travelling expenses from their residence to the place 
where the congress meets. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



163 



levy taxes ; to decree the necessary loans, the 
value of the current coin, the creation or suppres- 
sion of public employments, with the amount of 
the salaries ; the raising and organization of the 
armies ; to declare war and peace, and the limits 
of territory ; and, in fine, to establish the courts 
of justice, and to grant the dictatorship to the 
executive power. 

A president and vice president, whose func- 
tions last for four years, and who cannot be 
elected more than once, compose the executive 
power, the former receives thirty thousand, and 
the latter sixteen thousand dollars per annum ; 
in case of death, their functions are to be exer- 
cised by the president of the senate. 

The president, who is not permitted to leave 
the territory of the republic, assembles the con- 
gress and commands the armies ; he has the 
power of opposing his veto to any law projected 
for the first time, but when a majority of two 
thirds of the legislative body has accepted it, he 
is forced to give his consent ; he has the right in 
concert with the judges to commute all capital 
punishments. 

His council is composed of the vice president, 
and the minister of the high court of justice, with 
the ministers of foreign affairs, of the interior, of 
the finances, of the navy, and of war, whose duty 
it is to give the congress, either verbally or in 
writing, every explanation that may be required 

m 2 



164 



TRAVELS IN THE 



of them. The salary of these secretaries of state 
is six thousand dollars. 

The third branch of the executive power, but 
the least effective, though the most necessary, is 
the high court of justice participating- of the 
French council of state and court of cassation. 

The high court of justice is composed of five 
members, viz. three judges, and two fiscals, who 
must possess the three indispensable qualities of 
being electors, counsellors of law, and of being- 
thirty years of age. 

The high court of justice decides respecting 
the claims of foreigners, and pronounces upon 
the difficulties or errors which may have arisen 
in the inferior tribunals. Notwithstanding the 
importance of these functions, the members are 
appointed by the senate, upon the presentation 
of the president, after the names of the candi- 
dates have been canvassed by the chamber of re- 
presentatives. The duration of their employ- 
ment is guaranteed to them, as long as their 
conduct gives satisfaction, a condition which leaves 
open a vast field to the arbitrary will of the 
senate. Other inferior courts will be established 
throughout the republic to facilitate the admi- 
nistration of justice ; the members will be no- 
minated by the president. 

The territory of the republic has been divided 
into seven departments, each containing a certain 
number of provinces subdivided into cantons. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



165 



The following is a list of them, to which have 
been added the computed state of the population 
of each province and department, the number of 
senators elected for each department, and the 
places in which the commissioners reside. 



NAMES 
of the 
departments. 



NAMES 
of the 
provinces. 



Popula- 
tion of 
each 
prov. 



Popula- 
tion of 

each 

dep- 



NUMBER 
of senators 
elected by 
each dep. 



NUMBER 
ofrepresenta 
tives elected 
by each prov 



PLACES 
of residence 
of the com 
missioners. 



Oronooko. 
Venezuela. 
Sulia. 

Bogota. 

Cundinamarca. 
Cauca. 



Magdalena. 

Panama. 
Veragua. 
Quito. 

GuijosondMacos 

Cuenca. 

Jaen. 

Mamas 

Loxa 

Guayaquil. 



^ Guyana. 
\ Cumana. 

Barcelona. 
( Marguerita. 

{Caracas. 
Varinas. 

< Coro. 
lTrujillo. 
j Merida- 
C Maracai'bo. 

f Tunja. 
J Socorro. 
1 Pamplona. 
C Casanare. 



{Popayan. 
Choco- 

< Carthagena. 
} Santa Martha 
f Riohacha, 



4-5,000 
70,000 
45,000 
15,000 

350,000 
80,000 



175,000 



430,000 



30,000 
33,400 
50,000 162,100 
48,000 

200,000 
100,000 

75,000 

19,000 



172,000 
104,000 
45,000 
50,000 

171,000 
22,000 

170,000 
62,300 
7,000 

50,000 
30,000 
150,000 
35,000 
78,000 
13,000 
36,000 
48,000 
90,000 



444,000 

371,000 

193,200 
239,500 



Cumana. 
Caracas. 

Maracai'bo. 
Tunja. 

Bogota. 

Popayan. 

Carthagena. 



According to this table the population of Co- 
lombia should be 2,644,600 souls,* but another 
authorf reckons them only at 2,500,000. It is dif- 
ficult to give any exact calculation on this point, 

* Consequently less considerable than that of Egypt, al- 
though the country is more extensive, 
f See note the 2nd. 



166 



TRAVELS IN THE 



for who is able to reckon the tribes that have been 
ranged, without their consent, in the number of 
Colombians, and who, by turns monarchical Spa- 
niards, or republican Colombians, live equally 
independent of both these powers ? 

Another division called maritime has also 
been established, and the coasts have been di- 
vided into four departments. 

The first comprehends Guyana, Cumana, 
Barcelona, and the island of Marguerita. 

The second, the coasts of Caracas, Coro and 
MaracaTbo. 

The third, Riohacha, Santa-Martha and 
Carthagena. 

The fourth, the coasts of Atrato as far as 
those of Veragua. 

Nothing has been determined respecting the 
coasts of the Pacific Ocean. 

A commandant-general and an auditor of 
marine govern each province. 

The administration of each department is 
committed to a commissioner named by the pre- 
sident ; the salary of the commissioners is six 
thousand dollars per annum, and their functions 
cease at the end of three years. A practitioner 
in the law is attached to them as an assessor. 

Each province has a governor, who is under 
the orders of the commissioner, and whose pow- 
ers cease at the same time as his own. 

The cantons are under the direction of civil 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



167 



judges or sub-prefects (formerly called corregi- 
dors). The cantons are subdivided into cabil- 
dos or municipalities, of which the alcaids are 
the representatives. 

There are two alcaids in each chief town of 
a canton, and two inferior ones in each parish ; 
their duties consist in maintaining good order 
and tranquillity. They are charged with the 
superintendance of the primary schools, and the 
hospitals ; with the repairs of roads and pri- 
sons ; with the cleanliness of the towns, and 
with the distribution of encouragement to com- 
merce and industry. 

It is recommended to them, by the forty- 
eighth article of the law upon the organization 
of the departments, to be obedient to the civil 
judges, and to all other superior authorities. 

Three years ago, the cabildos were filled 
by men inimical to the new system, but it has 
now been decided that the primary assemblies of 
the year 1822, should renew every appointment, 
and that henceforth these bodies should them- 
selves proceed as formerly, to nominate their 
successors. 

Colombia comprises two archbishoprics, that 
of Caracas, and that of Santa-Fe, both of which 
are vacant. Their suffragans are the ten bishop- 
rics of Popayan, Carthagena, Santa- Martha, 
Merida, Guyana, Antioquia, Quito, Cuenca^ 
Maynas, and Panama, these three last have been 



168 



TRAVELS IN THE 



detached from the archbishopric of Lima, and 
it is intended to form them into an archbishop- 
ric at Quito. 

The sees of Maynas, Cuenca, Santa-Martha, 
Antioquia, and Guyana are vacant. Those of 
Carthagena and Quito are being filled up*. 

The congress of Cucuta displayed an ex- 
traordinary activity, for they did not restrain 
themselves to the fundamental laws which have 
been noticed, but decreed a number of additional 
ones. They abolished the duties upon pass- 
ports, as well as those paid by the washers of 
gold, and the tribute levied upon the Indians. 
They framed a very long regulation upon the 
direct contributions, with another upon the con- 
scription ; gave the property of suppressed con- 
vents to the schools ; destroyed the inquisition, 
and consigned to the archbishops and bishops 
the judgment of the causes appertaining to that 
tribunal. Amongst their decrees may be re- 
marked many against the moderalists and the 
disaffected, whom they finally expelled from the 
territory of the republic. They abolished the 
duties of transport, and of excise upon the pro- 
ductions of the country, and reduced these im- 
posts to a duty of two and a half per cent upon 
foreign commodities. 

They promulgated a law upon the enfran- 
chisement of slaves, which had at first been 

* See Note III. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



169 



solicited by the congress of Venezuela, and af- 
terwards rejected by this province and that of 
Popayan, as being dangerous and pernicious to 
the prosperity of the state. They decreed the 
right of personal liberty and the liberty of the 
press ; the confiscation of the property of emi- 
grants, and the coining of platina and copper 
money. They granted a general licence for dis- 
tillation, upon the payment of two piastres per 
month, and five dollars for each cantara of bran- 
dy ; they also permitted the retailing of it upon 
paying two piastres per month. 

Their most important law was that upon 
stamped paper, which they divided into four 
classes. That of the first pays twenty- four dol- 
lars ; the second, eighteen ; the third, twelve ; 
and the fourth, six. All instruments, even peti- 
tions are written on this paper. Lastly, they 
enacted that the nation should have the right 
of reforming or remodelling the constitution 
within ten years, from the year 1821, during 
which period the republic of Colombia is to be 
governed by this prodigious number of decrees, 
regulations, and laws. 

The executive power is more enlightened 
than the congress. It is often called upon to 
correct the numerous errors in the decrees of this 
first branch of the state; in other respects, a 
sufficient understanding prevails through the 
different members of the administration. Am- 



170 



TRAVELS IN THE 



bition not finding men at hand, capable of 
comprehending or supporting it, affects devotion 
to the cause, and does not separate itself from 
the mass of the nation. 

A people familiarized with monarchical ha- 
bits, might, perhaps, have been more easily 
advanced by means of a simpler form of govern- 
ment ; thus notwithstanding the wisest inten- 
tions, the four or five persons that actually com- 
pose the government are but ill obeyed. 

Many other reasons contribute also to the 
same result ; amongst which may be reckoned 
the different castes, and the claims of a few 
generals, with whom, although their demands 
are sometimes exorbitant, it is necessary to pre- 
serve a friendly understanding, as they have it 
in their power to subvert the present established 
form of government. 

The so much desired reunion of Caracas 
and New Grenada, has increased the public bur- 
dens, without augmenting the means of support- 
ing these expenses. 

The province of New Grenada, which con- 
tains very few blacks in comparison with the white 
population, voted for their enfranchisement; 
while Venezuela being overstocked with this 
mutinous people, demands that they should again 
be made slaves. Caracas complains that its ser- 
vices have been rewarded by placing the capital 
in a province formerly its rival. Santa-Fe ac- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



171 



knowledges that it has received the barren pri- 
vilege of being, as formerly, the seat of govern- 
ment, while the employments and money are 
reserved for the intriguing people of Venezuela. 

Guayaquil wished to be an hanseatic and in- 
dependant town, and the riches it receives forms 
at present one of the greatest revenues of a re- 
public which it could purchase. 

Pasto, covered with mountains, desires to 
preserve the independance which Bolivar had 
recognized when he wished to escape from the 
hands of its ferocious inhabitants. Even the 
Indians demand leave to pay again their tri- 
bute, whilst others are hurt at having their name 
of Guagires changed into that of Colombians, 
without their consent; as if the republic had 
inherited them as a conquest made from Spain. 

The blacks cry out for liberty, the mulattoes, 
for the extinction of prej udices ; the Indian mu- 
lattoes, for the termination of the war ; and the 
Indians, for the restoration of their privileges. A 
rupture threatens to divide each province. 

In Venezuela, Montilla is the hope of the 
great white families. Paes at the head of his ca- 
valry is the hero of the people of colour, and 
Sucre might desire to be something more than 
the mere creature of Bolivar, in the southern 
provinces which his ability has reduced. 

Such are the difficulties which the govern- 
ment has to surmount, and which it combats with 



172 



TRAVELS IN THE 



considerable ability; but it is sometimes obliged 
to abandon the public revenues to the avidity of 
the principal chiefs, and to leave private fortunes 
to be plundered by their favorites. Besides which, 
far from accomplishing its wish of bringing the 
clergy into discredit, this order has increased 
in spite of government, for many enter into it, 
as into an inviolable asylum. 

The different branches of government must 
necessarily languish in the midst of so many dis- 
orders, arising from the fury of a civil war, re- 
kindled from time to time in different places ; at 
Maraca'fbo, at Puerto-Cabello, at Santa-Martha, 
at Pasto, and in many parts of the plains of the 
Oronooko. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



173 



CHAPTER X. 

Return to Bogota — Puente Real — Copper mines of Moniquira — Chiquiu= 
quira — Salt mines of Zipaquira. 

After making a stay of five days in the ca- 
pital of Socorro, I resumed my route to Bogota, 
and at an early hour traversed the pleasant vil- 
lage of Las Palmas. Following at a distance 
the lofty chain of Opon, upon which many habi- 
tations may be perceived, we had to cross a bridge ; 
here a toll of 3 sous was to be paid, from which 
however I was exempted by the address of a na- 
tive with whom I was travelling, and who, un- 
known to me, passed me off as an officer of the 
republic ; a title which supersedes all payment : 
such an abuse is however ill calculated for the 
encouragement of useful enterprises. The bridges 
in the province of Socorro, are of a very simple 
construction, and for their preservation are cover- 
ed in with a tiled roof. 

In the evening I entered Guadalupe, this 
village is situated on a plateau already elevated, 
as indicated by tne thermometer which was only 
at 15°. This change is also, in a great measure, 
owing to the storms which continually rage here; 
the air is sharper ; no goitres are to be seen. The 
next day, we descended upon the unhealthy banks 
of the Suarez ; as, at Socorro, the thermometer 



174 



TRAVELS IN THE 



stood at 20°. The waters of this river are very 
dangerous, generally causing fever to those 
who bathe in them. A sudden indisposition 
with which I was attacked, in the midst of these 
unwholesome regions, from inhaling the air loaded 
with putrid effluvia and myriads of insects, con- 
vinced me that the report of my boatmen was 
but too well founded. I therefore hastened to 
quit them, and in proportion as I ascended into a 
purer atmosphere the inconvenience I felt gra- 
dually diminished, till upon my arriving at San- 
Bendito (14°. R.), I found myself quite well. This 
village is entirely built with the fossils of am- 
monites of which the neighbouring mountains are 
full. A lead mine has been discovered in an 
adjoining village, called Guadera. 

Upon leaving this village, I continued tra- 
versing more elevated places, filled likewise with 
fossils ; but as these mountains are all composed of 
schistus, the road, in consequence of the rains, 
had become almost impassable. This bank of fos- 
sils which commences between Guadalupe and 
San-Bendito extends as far as Moniquira ; some 
scattered layers are found in the province of Tunja. 
They follow the curve described by the chain of 
Opon, from the 74th to the 75th degree of west 
longitude. We slept at Puente Real, a village now 
in ruins. Stuffs were formerly manufactured there, 
which were as much esteemed for the brilliancy 
of their colours as those of Cucuy ; but all the 
workmen have disappeared, and the manufactures 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



175 



with them. Puente Real sends some of its pro- 
duce up the Magdalena, by the route of Velez, 
the first town founded by the Spaniards in New 
Grenada. Formerly the communication with the 
river was by the road of Curare, where a very 
rich gold mine called Corcobada, has been disco- 
vered ; this route has now been abandoned on 
account of the diseases which proved fatal to the 
majority of travellers. 

Puente Real is the limit of the political 
frontier of Socorro, in fixing which the go- 
vernment has judiciously followed the sugges- 
tions of nature. In < fact, that opening of the 
Cordillera, which forms the province of So- 
corro, the declivity of which is directed from 
Moniquira to San Gil, here becomes narrower, 
and the traveller finds himself among the moun- 
tains which till then extended like immense 
walls upon his right and left ; those of the east- 
ern side, being known by the name of Serinsa, 
those on the western by that of Opon. The in- 
fluence of the rainy north-east winds begins to 
diminish at Puente Real, and a little higher, 
they become the bearers of fine weather. 

The valley of Socorro must be rich in me- 
tals, excepting gold, which is not supposed to 
be very abundant. Its numerous strata of 
schistus contain iron and copper in large quan- 
tities- 
Quitting the road from Puente Real to Bogo- 



176 



TRAVELS IN THE 



ta for that of Moniquira, which is in a south 
south- east direction, I began to traverse the 
vallies which intersect the higher parts of the Cor- 
dilleras ; the roads were dreadful ; for, the de- 
clivity of the mountains which I was ascending, 
being precisely the point most exposed to the 
clouds of the north-west, and one upon which 
they burst with the greatest violence, the whole of 
the surrounding country is an immense marsh, 
into which one sinks at every step. The soil 
is however the more fertile, and the natives 
assiduously cultivate it ; but of what avail is 
so much abundance ? surrounded on all sides 
by fields covered with luxurious vegetation, the 
wretched huts of these people, present the extre- 
mity of misery. This sight is the more striking, 
on arriving from Socorro, whose inhabitants 
are much more wealthy and happier. Great 
numbers of Indians are seen here, as if these 
people had reserved to themselves the places 
where the severity of the climate placed a bar- 
rier between them and their masters. 

Moniquira is perceived afar off ; a solitary 
palm-tree raises its head in the middle of the 
town ; a signal by which it is recognised at a 
great distance. I entered just at the same time 
with a man who was conducting two chil- 
dren with their hands tied behind their backs. 
Upon seeing me, they threw themselves at my 
feet; I gave them some money, which they 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 177 

received with much surprise, for as they took 
me for an officer of the republic, they did not 
expect to have been even noticed. Notwithstand- 
ing their wan and yellow complexions, which in- 
dicated long fast and excessive fatigue, they 
gave the money to their mother, who followed 
weeping most bitterly. 

The physiognomy of their conductor was 
harsh in the extreme, and could only be exceeded 
in brutality by his language. On hearing him, 
I involuntarily recollected the slave merchants 
whom I had seen on the African coast, driving 
their victims before them in flocks. This recruit- 
ing officer was asked in my presence, why he had 
brought such tender soldiers ? " It is not my fault," 
replied he, " nothing else was to be found at 
Santa-Anna ; every one fled on my arrival." 

This was not the only afflicting sight I wit- 
nessed at Moniquira. The dungeons were 
filled with conscripts torn in a similar manner 
from their families. Crowds of women, the 
mothers, wives or sisters of these unfortunates, 
besieged the gates of the prison, anxious to get 
conveyed to them all they could procure from 
the pity of the inhabitants of Moniquira. 

Quitting this unfortunate village the next 
morning, I directed my steps towards the cop- 
per mine, at the risk of disappearing amid the 
deep marshes, which obstruct all the roads. 
As we approached the mine, we remarked that 

N 



178 



TRAVELS IN THE 



the greater part of the quartz rocks, with which 
the country is filled, were covered with oxoid 
of copper. We at length reached the mine ; 
all was dry here, the rain had entirely ceased ; 
we were in a different region. Domingo Cor re- 
dor, the proprietor of the mine, had the polite- 
ness to conduct me thither, and we descended 
by means of pieces of wood fixed in a rope. 
This mine is situated on the banks of a river. 
There are but three miners employed ; the 
produce of the mine is therefore only estimated 
at two hundred arrobas of copper in eighteen 
months.* 

This mine was purchased for four thousand 
piastres, and, if worked in a more scientific 
manner, would probably produce immense pro- 
fits. But in its present state, it only produces suf- 
ficient for the consumption of the surrounding 
province. 

On quitting this mine, the traveller crosses 
the Moniquira, where great numbers of otters 
are caught ; he then traverses Ecce Homo, a 
village quite deserted, and arrives at Suta, very 
rich in nitrous earth. The valley of Suta is 
very agreeable, its verdure flourishing, and its 
temperature milder than the rest of the province 
of Tunja: it is bounded on the south by a very 
high mountain, on which are a number of small 

* The capital sunk in this mine does not produce more 
than three per cent. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



179 



crosses : this is the road traversed by pilgrims on 
their way to Chiquinquira ; we met several of 
them ; their noisy mirth, their songs, and bursts 
of laughter, were sufficient proofs that no ideas 
of austerity were associated with this pilgrimage, 
but that, on the contrary, it is a species of amuse- 
ment. 

It was not till the 12th that I could enter the 
Notre Dame de Lorette of Colombia. The church 
of Chiquinquira is built upon a regular plan ; its 
interior is very simple. I had expected to have 
seen it filled with all the riches of the country, 
but I only found a few silver plates covering 
the altar ; this last was decked with flowers, 
and numerous censers exhaled perfumes which 
scented the whole edifice. The image of the 
Virgin is placed behind two gold embroidered 
curtains. 

One of the sacristans drew them with trem- 
bling hand, and I contemplated the sacred image 
at my leisure : it is a wretched painting on can- 
vass, representing a woman in a standing atti- 
tude, having on each side of her St. Anthony and 
St. Andrew. The image now shewn is new ; and 
by a miracle truly divine, was found in the place 
of the old painting, which had begun to fall into 
rags. 

From November to April, the box of the 
Dominicans who have the care of the precious 
deposit, is filled with alms, offerings, and gifts 

n 2 



180 



TRAVELS IN THE 



The numerous ex-votos do not, as in European ca- 
tholic churches, hang suspended from the roofs ; 
the sanctuary is not encumbered with rich stuffs, 
as at Mecca ; the offerings are here all collected in 
chests, which cannot take long filling, since no 
mass is said under six piastres, and as the rich 
inhabitants who repair hither from Popayan and 
Giron to thank the Virgin for the recovery of a 
chid, &c. sometimes give more than a hundred. 

The priests belonging to this temple lead 
a very delightful life in the convent which they 
have built near the church ; they are twelve or 
fourteen in number, and are replaced by others 
every six months. They are not, however, idle 
amid so much wealth : the administration of the 
property, which piety pours into their hands, 
requires much care ; it is very discreetly em- 
ployed ; a great portion of it is appropriated to 
enlarging the convent, ornamenting the church, 
and especially to increasing the revenues, already 
considerable, of three farms which belong to the 
Virgin of Chiquinquira. 

The attachment manifested by the Domini- 
cans for this precious relic, is therefore very 
natural ; nor can they be blamed for having re- 
fused the offers made them by the secular clergy 
of Bogota, of farming it for forty thousand 
piastres. 

Cerviere, a French officer in the Colombian 
service, imagined, that if he could get possession 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



181 



of this sacred image, the people would come and 
adore it at any place to which he might remove it, 
and that thus he, as the new pontiff, would reap 
the offerings of the pious. He was, however, 
deceived; the profanation excited the utmost 
horror, not a devotee made his appearance. Cer- 
viere was routed at a short distance from Bogo- 
ta, to which place he had retired ; and being 
more anxious to effect his own escape than to 
save this new labarum, he abandoned it at Ca~ 
kesa ; the afflicted Dominicans repaired thither, 
and brought it back in great pomp to Chiquin- 
quira ; the pilgrimages immediately recom- 
menced. 

Upon quitting Chiquinquira, I passed through 
several fine farms. Suta was the next village : it 
is situated in the midst. of a plain terminating 
at the paramo of Noa, which is only separated 
from Chiquinquira by a hill of small elevation. I 
afterwards arrived at Funeque : in the north- 
west there is also a lake of this name. A little 
beyond this hamlet is Ubate, a village of peculiar 
cleanliness for these regions ; the schoolmaster 
has adopted for his sign the letters of the 
alphabet. The usual resting-place for the night 
is Suta Pelado (peeled) : it is thus distinguished 
from the other Suta, on account of the scorching- 
wind which burns up all the harvests, and ruins 
the farmers; this generally happens at the pe- 
riod when the easterly winds blow, these 



182 



TRAVELS IN THE 



coming from the snowy summits of Cucuy, pass 
over the province of Tunja, which is much lower 
than Suta Pelado. When viewed from this vil- 
lage, it appears an immense plain, the eastern 
paramos of which terminate the horizon ; it is 
nevertheless very mountainous. 

Beyond Suta Pelado is the Venta del Alto 
de la Crux ; the traveller then passes the Boke- 
ron de Tauza, an opening made by the hand 
of nature in the midst of the mountains of Tau- 
za : a salt mine is being worked in the neigh- 
bourhood. We suffered much from the cold as 
we traversed the paramo of Tauza ; but I soon 
forgot all my privations and labours, in once 
more seeing the beautiful plain of Bogota extend 
itself before me as far as my eye could reach. I 
hastened my descent, and was soon at Zipa- 
quira : it was market-day, a numerous and busy 
population imparted peculiar animation to the 
roads and streets. On every side, small tables, 
on which were placed a cloth and a loaf, served 
by way of sign to the different inns, and invited 
the traveller to enter : from the general bustle, 
one might have imagined one's-self in the capital 
of a vast empire ; it was, however, only a village, 
richer in the possession of its salt mine, than 
Choco in the midst of the treasures with which 
it is filled. 

I remained only one night at Zipaquira ; the 
next day I traversed Gaetan, and afterwards 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



183 



found myself among* the forests of apple-trees in 
which the Indians of Chia have constructed 
their huts. From thence, I proceeded to the 
banks of the Coramun, which I crossed on a bal- 
sa, or raft ; and then arrived at the Pan tan al, 
which, in the rainy season, is a deep marsh. It 
was not without difficulty that we made our way 
along the road which leads to Bogota, and it was 
night when I re-entered that city after a month's 
absence. 

The month which I again passed there was 
employed in collecting all that appeared to me 
proper to give an idea of the capital of the repub- 
lic of Bogota : this will form the subject of the 
succeeding chapter. 



184 



TRAVELS IN THE 



CHAPTER XI. 

Santa-Fe de Bogota — Climate — Houses — Furniture — Cathedral — Convents 
—Hospital— Colleges— The President's Palace— Palace of the Deputies 
— Palace of the Senate — Prisons — The Mint and Theatre — Streets — 
Police — Market — Paupers — Public Walks — Mode of Living — Shops- 
Amusements — Fete Dieu — Manners — Devotees— Scientific Establish- 
ments — Character of the Inhabitants. 

Compared with the other arts cultivated in 
Colombia, architecture is the one which has 
made the greatest progress ; a circumstance the 
more surprising, as all instruction in it is con- 
fined to that furnished by books and engravings; 
sculpture and painting are still very backward, 
but it may justly be anticipated that greater 
advances will be made in them than has hitherto 
been done. 

The houses in the country are in general, 
merely huts with mud walls, straw roofs, and lea- 
thern doors. They usually contain two rooms, 
one of which is for the kitchen ; the other, in 
which the family lives, is divided into two ; the 
one used as a parlour, the other as a bed-room. 
The furniture is extremely simple. Bananas 
and other vegetable plants, the favorites of the 
American, form a pleasing shade around the 
exterior of the dwelling. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



185 



More taste is observable in the villages. The 
church is large and very neatly kept ; it has 
bells, and almost always an organ, while the 
curate's house, ornamented with a balcony, has 
the air of a palace. From these two edifices, in- 
dividuals have derived all their architectural 
ideas. 

The towns are handsome, large, and agreea- 
ble in proportion to their locality, the commerce 
they carry on, the influence they enjoy, or the 
rank they possess. 

The most important town of Colombia is 
Panama ; the best fortified, Carthagena ; the 
most agreeable, Santa-Fe ; the best built, Po- 
payan ; the richest Guayaquil ; the most lively, 
Zipaquira ; the best situated, Maracai'bo. Cara- 
cas is said to have eclipsed them all, but Caracas 
is now in ruins. Quito, by all accounts, is su- 
perior to any in population ; but this advantage 
could not procure it the honour of being the ca- 
pital, and Santa-Fe, is almost its rival even 
in this particular. 

All the towns of South America are nearly 
constructed on the same plan. The founders al- 
most every where, have traced out a cross, of 
which the principal square and church form 
the centre. 

The Spaniards have, generally speaking, 
built their towns at the foot of mountains, and 
very rarely in the midst of the plains. The 



186 



TRAVELS IN THE 



object in the first instance was to provide against 
surprise, and at present these positions have 
the advantage of affording plenty of fresh water, 
which the Spaniards have not neglected to dis- 
tribute in every direction by means of aqueducts. 
Another method which they make use of to en- 
liven the towns, is that of whitening the outside 
of the houses, which gives them an appearance 
of much neatness. The principal streets have 
trottoirs ; in fact, the useful and the agreeable 
have been much less neglected in America than 
Europeans are willing to allow. 

No town possesses more natural advanta^ 
ges than the capital ; if less cleanly than others, 
the fault must be attributed to the climate, 
and to the immense traffic daily carried on 
there. 

Santa-Fe de Bogota was founded in the plain 
of that name, on the sixth of August 1538,* at 
the foot of two mountains of considerable ele- 
vation. At that time it could only reckon 
twelve huts, and about sixty inhabitants. Des- 
tined to become a town of considerable extent, 
it rapidly increased ; for, two years after its foun- 
dation, it was considered of sufficient impor- 
tance by the Spanish court, to be raised to the 
rank of Ciudad, (city). Its present population 
is estimated at 30,000 souls-f'. Quesada had 

* S. M. Salazar, 
f See note IV. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



187 



admirably chosen the site of a town which was 
one day to give the law to a great part of 
the Cordillera. Situated between two moun- 
tains which shelter it from the violent hur- 
ricanes of the east, it receives from them con- 
stant supplies of fresh and pure water, and 
commands the plain, so as to be able to de- 
fend itself against any enemy from that quar- 
ter. Santa-Fe, may be seen at a great dis- 
tance, especially the belfrey of the cathedral, but 
the natural frame-work in which the town is in- 
closed is so prodigiously vast, that it disap- 
pears in the immense shadows projected by 
the mountains over its public edifices. 

The climate of Bogota is generally rainy 
and cold ; the thermometer seldom rises above 
12° to 14°, and frequently falls to 6° or 7°. 
The sky is always cloudy, and there are but 
few of those fine days which even in the se- 
verest winters, we enjoy in Europe. 

The climate of Bogota may indeed be thus 
apportioned, six months of continued rain, April, 
May, September, October, November and Decem- 
ber ; three months showery,. June, July and Au- 
gust ; and three others uncertain. North north- 
west winds invariably bring storms, which some- 
times last several days together, and form large 
collections of water in the plain. 

Notwithstanding the excessive humidity 
predominant even in the houses, the climate is 



188 



TRAVELS IN THE 



not unhealthy, epidemics are never known. Euro- 
peans, provided they take the precaution of not 
getting wet in the feet, enjoy good health, after 
having had, on their arrival, the fever for a few 
days ; this, by some has been attributed to 
their fatigues, it may rather be referred to the 
tropical influence which, although weakened by 
the elevation of the land, acts nevertheless very 
powerfully upon Europeans. The inhabitant 
of the tierras calientes, is much less exempt 
from dangers than ourselves ; the cool and 
limpid streams of the mountain, which he 
drinks with so much delight, never fail to give 
him the dysentery, which, in numerous instances, 
proves fatal in a short time. Even the inhabi- 
tants of Bogota, are oftener ill than foreigners ; 
another proof that the cause of these affections 
is less to be sought for in the climate, than 
in the mode of life, and the food they make 
use of. 

The ladies rarely go out. Domestic habits, 
joined to severe stomach-aches caused by the 
garlic, tobacco, pork and chicha, of which they 
partake very freely, cause them to be almost 
continually indisposed. A dreadful disorder de- 
termines still more in both sexes, numerous 
infirmities, of which intemperance, more than 
climate, is the cause ; to this may be attributed 
the rheumatisms, hysterics, tooth-aches, and 
sore throats, so generally complained of, and 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



189 



which soon assume the most dreadful charac- 
ter. All possible precautions are had recourse to 
in these cases, warm clothing is much used ; but 
the disorder does not lie in the air. 

The whole of South America is subject to 
earthquakes. Santa-Fe has experienced several ; 
this it is which prevents the houses from being 
very high, although in their construction the same 
principles of architecture have been followed as 
the Spaniards, used in all their towns, those of 
Bogota differ more than any of the others: in 
their construction they use bricks baked in the 
sun; the greater part are covered with tiles, and 
the external walls are whitewashed. As to the 
interior of the houses, they are not better arranged 
then ours were at the time of the discovery of 
America. Windows very small and always bar- 
ricadoed by large wooden bars, are seen by the 
side of others of an immense size ; the beams 
are rarely concealed by a ceiling ; the walls have 
enormous projections ; the doors are of all heights, 
the use of locks is scarcely known, at least those 
manufactured in the country, afford but little 
security. The use of glazed windows is but 
of recent introduction ; a less barbarous taste is 
how ever observable, in the construction of many 
modern habitations, and several improvements 
begin to appear. Light and convenient balconies 
have superseded the enormous heavy galleries; 
the ceiling is no longer disagreeably intersected 



190 



TRAVELS IN THE 



by beams, the windows are without barricadoes ; 
the street doors better painted ; a general neatness 
is indeed being introduced through all classes. 
In general two gates are to be passed before ar- 
riving in the court yard. The entry which sepa- 
rates it from the street is but too often a recep- 
tacle for the uncleanliness of the passengers. A 
gallery generally runs round the court, if the 
house consists only of a ground floor ; but if of 
two stories, a covered terrace. The staircase is 
generally of stone, and of very rude construc- 
tion : on the wall of the first square is generally 
painted a giant, carrying in one hand a child, 
and in the other a ball ; this is St. Christopher, 
the household god of the country. Round the 
inner gallery is a long suit of rooms, which only 
receive day-light through the door. 

Every house has at least one saloon, and an 
eating-room ; for it is considered unpolite to 
receive friends, or to entertain them in a sleep- 
ing-room. The kitchen is always of an immense 
size, less on account of the quantity of provisions 
cooked, than the number of useless servants as- 
sembled there : there is no chimney, stoves only 
are used. 

No houses are seen without carpets ; the 
ancient straw mats of the Indians are no longer 
used by fashionable people, but are superseded 
by carpets of European manufacture. Both of 
these are destined, if there be no fire, to warm 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



191 



the apartments, and to conceal the inequalities of 
the floor, where unfortunately the negligence 
of the servants permits the most loathsome in- 
sects to swarm in immense numbers. Some 
persons cover the walls of their chambers with 
died paper ; and numbers have garlands of 
flowers, and genii drawn upon it, in a style 
alike indicative of the bad taste of the painter 
and his employer. 

The furniture is simple, and usually consists 
of nothing more than two sofas covered with cot- 
ton, two small tables, a few leathern chairs, after 
the fashion of the fifteenth century ; a looking- 
glass, and three lamps suspended from the ceil- 
ing. The bed is tolerably well ornamented, but 
feathers are never used, it is formed of two wool 
mattrasses. 

With some slight difference, all the houses 
resemble each other ; nothing serves to distin- 
guish those of the ministers, and it would be dif- 
ficult to recognize the president's, were it not 
for the guard at the entrance. 

The architects of Santa-Fe, I repeat, will 
always have an excuse to justify the deformity of 
their edifices, viz. the nature of the ground, 
which, being so often convulsed, compels them 
to sacrifice elegance and majesty to solidity, thus 
it is that the houses are so low, although the 
walls are prodigiously thick. The public build- 
ings are also obliged to have enormous founda- 



192 



TRAVELS IN THE 



tions, and the shafts of the columns of the 
churches are less in proportion to the weight 
they have to sustain, than to the shocks which 
they are required to resist. 

The architecture of some, however, is in a 
purer style. The cathedral in particular, erected 
in 1814, is remarkable for the simplicity of its 
interior, redeeming, in some degree, the bad 
taste to which its fagade is indebted, for an 
accumulation of lines produced without harmony, 
and intersecting each other without the least 
symmetry. 

The other churches of Bogota, to the num- 
ber of twenty-six, are, on the contrary, resplen- 
dent with gold ; no temple of the Incas was ever 
so dazzling. But, although the magnificence of 
the cathedral itself is not so great, the treasures it 
possesses are more valuable. One statue of the 
Virgin alone, out of the many which adorn the 
altars, is ornamented with 1358 diamonds, 1295 
emeralds, 59 amethysts, one topaz, one hyacinth, 
372 pearls, and its pedestal is enriched with 609 
amethysts ; the artist was paid 4000 piastres for 
his labours. 

A great number of churches are dependent 
upon convents, the revenues of which are very 
considerable. There are nine monasteries and 
three nunneries : those of the Dominicans, 
and of the monks of San Juan de Dios, are the 
most richly endowed. Four-sixths of the houses 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



193 



In Bogota belong to them. These retreats, of regu- 
lar construction, are more remarkable for solidity 
than beauty of architecture. The building is 
generally square ; in the centre is a court-yard 
ornamented by a fountain, and having a double 
range of galleries round it, the lower one of which 
is generally filled with wretched paintings, repre- 
senting the history of the saint at whose prayer 
the convent was founded. 

Some of these convents have colleges or 
hospitals dependent upon them. The monks or 
San Juan de Dios are particularly devoted to the 
relief of suffering humanity. What a pity that 
their hospital has so disgusting an appearance ! 
wooden beds offensive from dirt, upon which lie 
patients, in rooms inaccessible either to light or 
air ; heaps of filth and ordure in the yards ; 
kitchens, in which victuals are cooked with all 
the negligence and nastiness peculiar to the den 
of a savage ; straw carpets, black with mud and 
all imaginable unc leanness ; dead bodies exposed 
on the ground to the view of the dying, are objects 
which might impair health the most vigorous, 
and render any cure effected in this loathsome 
abode, a subject of the utmost astonishment. 

The colleges are attended to with more care ; 
they are three in number, and are all well situ- 
ated and well-built ; the principal one, that of 
the jesuits, possesses the character of solidity 
peculiar to all the edifices of that famous order. 

o 



194 



TRAVELS IN THE 



The majority of the professors wear the ton- 
sure ; a very small proportion of them being lay- 
men. The course of instruction in these estab- 
lishments consists of the Latin language, philo- 
sophy, the mathematics, and theology ; the pupils 
are required to devote four hours a-day to study. 
A three months' vacation is allowed at the end of 
the year. 

It might be imagined, from the pompous 
title of palace, given to the ancient residence 
of the viceroys, which is now occupied by the 
president of the republic, that a sumptuous edi- 
fice would present itself ; it is, however, nothing 
more than a house with a flat roof ; two adjoin- 
ing ones, much lower, ornamented with galleries, 
together with the prison, constitute the whole of 
its dependencies ; here are also the offices of the 
ministers of state. Upon entering the palace, 
stair-cases without the least pretensions to ele- 
gance, and galleries equally devoid of taste, pre- 
sent themselves ; no hall leads into the presence- 
chamber : it is entered either from the presi- 
dent's bed-room, or from a small anti-chamber. 
A few sofas covered with red damask, a worn-out 
Segovia carpet, some lamps suspended from the 
cross beams, which, for want of a ceiling, give 
this part of the saloon the appearance of a barn, 
would make it difficult to conceive the idea of a 
palace, were not the apartment decorated with a 
throne covered with red damask, a few looking- 



REPUBLIC OP COLOMBIA. 



195 



glasses, glazed windows, and some wretched 
paintings. The idea of regality is still further 
increased by a troop of twenty hussars guarding 
the avenues ; these, notwithstanding their want 
of boots and horses, and the wretched plight of 
their uniforms, give the stranger a hint that he 
is within the precincts of royalty. 

The place, dignified with the name of the 
palace of the deputies, is nothing but a large 
house situated at the corner of a street, the 
ground-floor of which is let out in shops for the 
selling of brandy. The first objects which at- 
tract attention upon ascending the stair-case, 
are two Fames painted upon the wall, at the 
foot of which is this inscription : " No country 
without laws." Having gained the inner gallery, 
the noise which escapes through a small door in- 
dicates it to the visitor to be that of the Hall of 
Assembly. This consists of a long and narrow 
room, in the middle of which has been erected a 
wooden balustrade, upon which the spectators 
lean ; for no one is seated but the representatives, 
who are economically placed upon arm-chairs made 
of polished wood, with leather bottoms, rang-ed in 
long rows ; within the balustrade, eight chan- 
deliers, glazed windows, and a matting, com- 
pose the decorations of the palace of deputies. 

Upon quitting this, it is only necessary to 
cross the street to enter the palace of the senate, 
which is perhaps still more simple than that of 

o 2 



196 



TRAVELS IN THE 



the representatives. The Dominicans having 
granted this body one of the wings of their con- 
vent, it was fitted up in a similar manner to the 
Hall of the Deputies ; the walls are, however, 
ornamented with emblematical figures. Under 
one of these which represents Justice, the ignorant 
painter has written Policy. 

Thus in the palace there is neither salle de 
reception, hall, nor anti-chamber, and when 
the ministers attend to make any communication 
to one of the chambers, they are obliged to wait 
upon the staircase, till the usher of the house, 
who is at the same time manager of the theatre, 
comes to disengage them of their umbrella, and 
invite them to enter. 

In their places of confinement the Spanish 
Americans have established a system of excessive 
indulgence. The prisons are on the ground floor, 
and the windows are sufficiently low to allow 
the passers-by to converse with those incarce- 
rated ; as to state prisoners, they are treated with 
greater severity. 

The other public buildings in Bogota are 
the Mint and the Theatre. The internal arrange- 
ments of both of these are excessively bad ; 
neither of them seems adapted to the objects for 
which it was intended : it is however very sur- 
prising to find establishments of this kind in 
places so far removed from all communication 
with Europe. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



197 



In this respect Bogota resembles, in some 
degree, the European factories on the coast of 
Africa : within the town many institutions and 
customs of the other capitals of the world are 
to be met with ; without, all is different : one is 
in the centre of Africa, surrounded by barbarians, 
the greater part of whom have no other cloathing 
than a shirt and drawers ; the abundance even 
of the fields, so regretted by the Americans who 
visit Europe, an abundance in comparison of 
which the riches of our industry appear as 
wretched poverty, seems to the European, a wild 
and savage luxuriancy. 

The three principal streets of Bogota, are 
cheerful, tolerably regular, but badly paved. The 
trottoirs are however better than in the other 
Spanish towns, and passengers walk sheltered 
from the rain, by favour of the projecting roofs 
of the houses. 

It was a saying of one of their viceroys that 
Bogota had four police officers, to keep the town 
clean, the gallinazos ( vultur aura), the rain, the 
asses, and the hogs ; the same observation will 
nearly apply now; but the streams of fresh 
water which run through the streets would cleanse 
them still more efficaciously, if, at eight o'clock 
in the evening, the idleness of the inhabitants 
did not convert them into filthy and infectious 
sewers. 



198 



TRAVELS IN THE 



At night, a few lanterns placed at the corners 
of some streets, shed a feeble and imperfect light, 
while the warehouses are committed to the care of 
nightly watchmen, in spite of whose vigilance 
they are occasionally broken into. The squares 
are spacious, and are all ornamented with foun- 
tains. That of the palace is on Fridays con- 
verted into the market place, which forms an 
interesting object for foreigners, notwithstanding 
the confusion among the immense crowds which 
repair on that day to Bogota. 

This market is full of provisions, meat, vege- 
tables, and fruits of every description. Those of 
Europe and America may here be seen mingled 
together, on one side are hampers fall of straw- 
berries, on the other, ananas, aguacates, peaches 
and apples ; near heaps of cabbages, carrots and 
potatoes, are yuccas, and bananas ; and among 
sacks of maize, barley and corn, are piles of 
cocoa, and loaf sugar ; in one place are sold 
numerous healing herbs gathered by the Indians 
in the paramos, in another, pinks, roses, and jes- 
samine are exposed for sale. 

Bogota is subject to a dreadful nuisance ; 
every Saturday, the poor rush into the town as 
if to take it by assault ; they besiege every door, 
and to gain admittance, endeavour to excite 
compassion by the exposure of the most revolting 
infirmities ; old men led by children form nu- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



199 



merous groups, which throughout the day ob- 
struct the streets and even block up the thresholds 
of the houses. 

In the neighbourhood of Bogota, are some 
very agreeable walks which, although shaded by 
willows and ornamented with rose trees and 
the beautiful cardamindum. are little frequented ; 
the preference being given to a few select streets, 
the trottoirs of which offer a commodious prome 
nade, as from them gentlemen on horseback may 
be seen traversing the town at full gallop ; the 
greater part of these horsemen are bedizened with 
gold, and glittering in military uniforms ; some 
with round hats ornamented with plumes of fea- 
thers, others with cocked ones, and a still greater 
number wearing shakos and helmets ; although 
their own appearance is upon the whole striking, 
that of their horses, which resemble norman 
ponies, is so wretched as to lessen the effect 
considerably. 

Upon arriving at Bogota, the foreigner, un- 
less he has letters of recommendation, finds him- 
self much embarrassed for a lodging, although 
as a last resource, he may find, as in other places, 
a fire and shelter at the posada. The best plan 
is to go to a public hotel, which has lately been 
established, where, at the rate of a piastre a 
day, he may find tolerable entertainment. 

Living is not very expensive for such as are 



200 



TRAVELS IN THE 



contented with their host's fare*, which usually 
consists of a piece of boiled beef, with some 
potatoes, yucca, and bananas ; in the more weal- 
thy families, lentils, peas, and kidney beans 
dressed with lard, are also added, and on gala 
days, a piece of pork. The bread is tolerably 
good, little however is eaten ; chocolate is taken 
thrice a day, and is always accompanied with 
cheese and confectionery. The most common 
drink is water, and occasionnally chicha. Wine is 
very rare, and is considered as hurtful as brandy, 
and with great justice ; both these liquors are 
very dangerous at Bogota ; the greatest mode- 
ration must be observed in the use of them. 
The meals are very frequent. At seven o'clock 
in the morning they eat meat, and drink cho- 
colate, at ten they take some soup ; dinner is 
served up at two, chocolate is again sipped at five, 
and at ten they sup. Silver goblets are in 
common use, no one is without them. Napkins 
are not known, but table cloths are indispensa- 
ble. Pots of earthenware are generally preferred 
for drinking water out of, and generally*, one 
serves the whole company. After a repast, they 
wash their hands, smoke, and then take a siesta. 
This custom is so general, that, at three o'clock 
the most profound silence reigns throughout the 



* See note V. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



201 



city, the same as in all towns inhabited by Spa- 
niards. 

Some persons have certainly adopted the 
European manners and customs ; but it was not 
till after repeated voyages to Jamaica, that they 
renounced their national habits ; the character 
of the country is not however to be formed from 
these cosmopolites. 

Bogota cannot boast of ten merchants who 
can command 100,000 piastres, nor of five in- 
dividuals, living upon a revenue of equal amount. 
The most common incomes are from 5, to 10,000 
piastres. As almost every inhabitant is a shop- 
keeper, his business generally increases his in- 
come threefold. 

The shops are crowded together, dirty, and 
dark ; the only admission for day-light, is by 
the door. These however, are the places of resort 
for the idle. Seated upon his counter, smoking 
incessantly, and giving laconic answers to his 
customers, the Colombian merchant in many 
respects resembles those of Smyrna or Aleppo. 

The amusements consist of balls, cock, 
and bull fights, occasionally the theatre, but 
more often, games of chance, at which bets some- 
times run as high as 10,000 piastres. The pomp 
displayed in the religious processions, and the 
multiplicity of Saints' days, greatly contribute 
to the amusement of the lower orders. 

Corpus Chris ti day is that which is celeb ra- 



202 



TRAVELS IN THE 



ted with the greatest magnificence at Bogota ; it 
is announced the preceding evening by artificial 
fire- works. At each corner of the grand square, 
through which the procession is to pass, are 
erected four richly ornamented altars, while by 
a singular mixture of the sacred and profane, 
mats cle cocagne, puppet shows and a great number 
of cages full of rare and curious animals are 
ranged on all sides. The rejoicings and games 
cease the moment the bell is heard announcing 
the approach of the procession. Every one takes 
off his hat and kneels down in the streets. 

At the head of the procession, are chariots 
dragged along by men ; in one is king David, 
with the head of Goliath in his hand ; in another, 
Esther ; in a third, Mordecai ; Joseph, next 
makes his appearance upon a horse richly capari- 
soned, and followed by a great number of guards ; 
these however, are only mounted on paste-board 
chargers. All these personages are the children 
of the principal inhabitants of the city. To ob- 
tain the honour of acting a part in this imposing 
spectacle, is a great desideratum, and those who 
are honoured, by having their children nominated, 
neglect no kind of expense ; rivalling each other 
in splendour, they lay pearls, diamonds, emeralds, 
and rubies under contribution, and put their 
imagination to the rack, in order to render the 
dresses of the actors more magnificent. The cler- 
gy advance slowly amid the crowd of the faith- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



203 



ful, with which the square is thronged. The most 
beautiful girls in the city walk between two rows 
of priests, some carrying the ark, and the shew- 
bread, others incense, or baskets of flowers ; to 
these succeed young Indians, who, to the sound 
of a flute and tabor, perform wild fantastic 
dances, The procession is closed by a detachment 
of troops, with arms and colours reversed. 

This fete is certainly the most magnificent 
that can be witnessed in America ; those of 
Christmas, in the warm countries, are not to be 
compared with it. The latter, however, are more 
productive of pleasure, for they occasion both in 
the streets and houses, balls and masquerades, 
which the cool of the evening renders particu- 
larly pleasing. 

As in all capitals, morals are more relaxed 
at Bogota, than in other towns ; but crimes are 
rare, nor does drunkenness lead to excesses, al- 
though the number of shops for the sale of bran- 
dy and chicha is very considerable : their sign 
is a cabbage leaf. 

The inhabitants of Bogota, are mild, polite, 
and cheerful : their gaiety never degenerates 
into pertness or petulancy. There are few wo- 
men who are not pretty, and still fewer who 
are not well formed ; their singular costume, 
is completely original. 

Here, as throughout the republic, the only 
mark of distinction between the two classes of 



204 



TRAVELS IN THE 



society, the rich and the poor, consists in the 
wearing of shoes. All the girls of the lower or- 
ders go barefooted ; with the majority of them 
this is a means of pleasing which excites the envy 
of more than one signora. 

These very females, either by their personal 
charms, the caprice of the men, or their own good 
fortune, are sometimes entitled to pass into the 
superior class ; but, by a strange prejudice, and 
an inexplicable reserve, this change is never sud- 
den. The public opinion is first prepared by a 
curious costume, cut exactly in the fashion, 
and made of the same materials as the dresses of 
nuns ; those who are thus clothed, are called 
beates. This habit is also sometimes assumed by 
coquetry, or luxury ; but a religious motive is 
then the pretext, or the obtaining the cure of a 
husband, a father or mother the alledged cause ; 
a valuable privilege attached to the cut of a gown 
which sanctifies her who wears it, represses the 
jealous feeling excited in female breasts at the 
sight of a pretty woman, and procures health 
with no other change in the habits and manner 
of living, than the obligation of not choosing any 
colour for gowns, than white or maroon, and 
of adopting a fashion in dress not less strange 
than that of the clothes daily worn ! ! 

The enlightened taste which some indivi- 
duals evince for the sciences and literature, has 
induced the government to establish a library 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



205 



containing at present about 6000 volumes, a bo- 
tanical garden, and an observatory, but these 
two latter establishments are absolutely aban- 
doned ; there are three printing offices, but they 
have not much occupation, two gazettes, and a 
few law papers, being the whole of their weekly 
employment. 

Very few negroes are found in the capital ; 
the half-bred Indians alone being employed as 
servants, the mulattoes are less rare ; their co- 
lour does not in the least prejudice them in 
the eyes of the white ladies, who, it is said, do 
not view them with indifference. 

A foreigner has great difficulty in being 
well waited upon by his servants, especially 
when travelling; for, being with difficulty un- 
derstood by the country-people, his servants be- 
come his interpreters, and by the familiarity 
thus necessarily established, in a short time, 
his equals. 

It is not easy to say what are the political 
opinions of the inhabitants of Bogota. Like 
all those who live in capital cities, they are 
oppositionists, because they see the machine of 
government too near ; but they may be con- 
sidered rather as spectators indifferent as to 
its fall or duration, than as enemies danger- 
ous to its existence. Provided they pay no 
taxes, and are at liberty to abuse, they con- 
sider themselves free. After having given the re- 



206 



TRAVELS IN THE 



volutionary impulse, this capital will, for the 
future, receive it from the provinces, and every 
enemy who makes himself master of the plain, 
will give the law to Bogota. 

Some idea has been formed of establishing 
the capital of the republic at C acuta ; this is 
an unjust and ill conceived project ; the only 
result would be a solitary city, like Washing- 
ton ; all life and energy would remain at Bo- 
gota. The name of Bolivar might be immor- 
talized, but there would never be a great and 
powerful city, it is as difficult to raise these 
with a breath, as it is empires. These gigantic 
ideas, so imposing in theory, have never suc- 
ceeded but once, and that in an absolute mo- 
narchy, — in Russia. 

Bogota is then at present the seat of the go- 
vernment ; and it is in this city that the best idea 
may be formed of the revenues and resources 
of the republic ; an account of these will be given 
in the next chapter. 



REPUBLIC OP COLOMBIA. 



207 



CHAPTER XII. 

Finances — Brandy — Post Office — Revenue — Stamps — Alcavala — Direct 
Taxation — War — Army — Fortified places — Marine — Foreign relations. 

The fortune of individuals, the basis of that of 
the government, amounts : lstly, to eight mil- 
lions of piastres, the annual produce of the soil ; 
this produce only includes, grain, vegetables, 
and fruits ; 2ndly, to eight millions of exported 
goods, such as tobacco, cocoa, indigo, &c. &c; 
Srdly, to two millions of metals, given to foreign- 
ers, in payment of merchandize imported. 

The total of these sums, being 18,000 pias- 
tres, gives, supposing this calculation correct, 
and the population to be two millions, seven hun- 
dred thousand souls,* a sum of 33 /. 33 centimes 
for each individual, of which the government re- 
ceives 9 to 10/. the remainder goes towards 
clothing and food.|| 

The state of slavery of a great part of the 
people explains how men can exist upon so 
moderate an income ; on the other hand, their 

* M. de Humboldt. 
f About 255 sterling. 
$ Between 6 and 7 shillings. 
|| See note IV. 



208 



TRAVELS IN THE 



extreme sobriety, the simplicity of their dress, 
the solitary life they lead, the abundance of their 
fields, and the excellence of the climate, which 
enables them to gather without difficulty all 
the fruits of the earth, are means of economy, 
which prevent them from being conscious of 
their misery. 

A detail of the different branches of the pub- 
lic revenue, will clearly shew the situation of 
this country, which is certainly not a brilliant 
one.* 

The custom-house duties, which, when sim- 
plified, should be punctually paid, are treated 
with the greatest contempt by all classes of citi- 
zens. The contraband trade is carried on with 
the utmost audacity ; if in the interior it is less 
active, in the sea-port towns, where it is sure 
of impunity, it has arrived at the climax of 
no longer needing concealment. This is the 
reason why the duties which, fixed under the 
Spanish government, at 18 per cent for impor- 
tation, and at 12 per cent for exportation, brought 
in about eight hundred thousand piastres an- 
nually, now only produce two-thirds of that sum, 
whether from the falling off of trade, or the 
dishonesty of the officers. 

The tobacco revenue at most only pays the 
expense of collecting it : a short time since the 
government was obliged to sell all the stock 

* See note VII. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



209 



of this article, which they had in the depot 
at Tunja, as it was become useless, and might 
spoil by remaining too long in the warehouses, 
the activity of the contraband having completely 
kept them out of the market. 

The duties upon brandy, formerly an object 
of monopoly, the manufacture of which has 
now been declared free, have not produced go- 
vernment the advantages it expected ; they have, 
however, introduced among the inhabitants a 
fatal passion for spirituous liquors, from the too 
great facility thus afforded of gratifying it. 

The minister of finance imagines he has dis- 
covered the cause of the decrease in this branch 
of the revenue, in the introduction of foreign 
brandies, the prohibition of them is therefore pro- 
posed, and will no doubt be decreed by con- 
gress. Fraud alone has injured the revenue ari- 
sing from licences : every one enjoys the be- 
nefit of the law, by manufacturing a less quan- 
tity than was intended. It is so very dif- 
ficult to extend the excise visits into the woods, 
and among the mountains, that every one dis- 
tils brandy, and scarcely any body pays the 
duties. 

The post office revenue, is likewise only suf- 
ficient to clear the expenses of the establishment ; 
commerce being inconsiderable, no very active 
correspondence is kept up. The system established 
by the Spaniards, from the extremity of Califor- 

v 



210 



TRAVELS IN THE 



nia as far Buenos Ayres, is precisely followed in 
Colombia ; every week, a courier sets off for 
one of the three grand divisions of the republic. 

The stamp duty has been rather more pro- 
ductive, on account of the necessity of employ- 
ing stamps in all petitions. Claims of all kinds 
being numerous, and fraud impossible, the go- 
vernment has drawn considerable sums from this 
branch of revenue. 

The alcavala is not very productive. The 
laws upon direct taxation, being ill drawn up, 
and being neither preceded nor accompanied by 
a census, and an exact description of property^, 
cannot be carried into execution, and are evaded 
every instant. 

Thus, the new government burthened with 
a debt of more than forty millions, contracted 
with the English, and deprived of the greater 
part of its revenues, is obliged, in order to fill 
the treasury, to have recourse to forced loans, 
patriotic gifts, and all those revolutionary mea- 
sures which, palliating the evil for a time, with- 
out curing it, do but increase its virulence. 

However, what with the money drawn from 
the rich, and the property in kind furnished by 
the lower classes of the community, the go- 
vernment has been enabled to conclude a rather 
dangerous war waged against it by Morales, 
and to afford the army of the south pecuniary as- 
sistance sufficient to enable it to enter Peru, 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



211 



where it has found pay, clothing and provisions, 
which, had it failed to receive in its own country, 
might have occasioned another convulsion. 

These circumstances shew that the members 
of the government are neither wanting in bold- 
ness nor ability. The war minister, especially, is 
not the least occupied, nor the least embarrassed; 
it is true he surmounts obstacles, by permitting 
the soldiers to furnish themselves with the need- 
ful at the expence of those it is their duty to de- 
fend ; besides an army which has nothing like 
organization, but rather resembles a tribe of Be- 
douin Arabs than a regular body of troops, is 
much less expensive than those of Europe. 

The soldiers they call grenadiers, dragoons, 
and hussars, have no uniform like ours ; they sel- 
dom can boast more than one coat, a shirt and a 
pair of blue pantaloons ; they have neither boots 
nor shoes ; a custom which has the advantage of 
habituating the soldiers to march over the most 
rugged roads without inconvenience, and which 
gives them a terrible superiority over Europeans, 
whose feet easily wounded when no longer de- 
fended by shoes, prevent them from keeping up 
with the army. 

The infantry are armed with guns, the horse- 
men with lances ; and a few, with guns and sabres. 

The republic can command fifty thousand 
stand of arms, all in the most wretched state, of 
English manufacture, and of the worst quality. 

p 2 



212 



TRAVELS IN THE 



The rations are fixed by law at one pound of 
meat, one pound of bread, and four ounces of 
rice per man ; it is very seldom, however, com- 
posed of aught but bananas. 

The monthly pay of the troops, a third of 
which is retained by government, has been fixed 
as follows : 

Piastres. 



General in Chief 500 

General of Division 400 

General of Brigade. ......... 300 

Colonel 200 

Lieutenant-Colonel 150 

Chief-of-Battalion 100 

Captain 60 

Lieutenant 40 

Sub-Lieutenant , 30 

Surgeon 50 

Chaplain 40 

1st Serjeant IS 

2d Serjeant 15 

1st Corporal * , . 12 

2d Corporal 11 

Drummer 11 

Soldier 10 



In 1821, there were 22,975 men under arms : 
subsequently, this number has increased to 
32,466 men : 25,750 infantry, 4,296 cavalry, and 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



213 



2,520 artillery; among' the latter are included 
400 workmen *. 

Each department has a commandant-gene- 
ral, whose staff is composed of a general officer, 
two adjutants, and two secretaries ; the com- 
mandants of the provinces and places included 
in the departments are likewise members of it. 

The infantry is divided into battalions : there 
are twenty-five of the line, and five of light 
troops : all are composed of eight companies. 
Each battalion of the line contains one company 
of chasseurs, one of grenadiers, and six of fusi- 
leers. Each company consists of one hundred 
soldiers and four officers. 

The cavalry includes twenty-four squadrons ; 
the six squadrons which form the president's 
guard compose a brigade. 

Each squadron has three companies for the 
ancient, and two for the modern tactics : the 
first have fifty soldiers and three officers ; the 
second, eighty soldiers and four officers. 

Of the four squadrons, eighteen belong to 
the line, under the appellation of dragoons, lan- 
cers, and six of light hussars. 

The artillery, although upon a more regular 
footing than the other branches of the service, is 
in a state bordering upon disorganization ; they, 
however, wear cloth uniforms similar to those 
of Europe. They are chiefly in garrison in mari- 
time towns. 

* Memoria del Ministro de la Guerra. 



214 



TRAVELS IN THE 



As to light artillery, it has not been ^yet 
established. What is called the engineer corps, 
is represented by two or three officers. 

The president's guard consists of two batta- 
lions of infantry, and six squadrons of cavalry. 
This is a corps, in which are incorporated the 
soldiers who have most distinguished themselves 
in the army. During the last war, it was increased 
by two battalions and one squadron. 

What is called the militia, is *but a monthly 
muster of a few wretched Indians, who are 
arrested on a Sunday, as they leave mass, to be 
exercised in an art to which they have the ut- 
most repugnance. The town militias are more 
regularly exercised, and may be considered upon 
the same footing, as the troops of the line, with 
this difference, that, being mostly composed of dis- 
contented citizens, they are the less to be feared. 

The Spaniards kept the fortifications in such 
excellent order, that, had they been better de- 
fended by the Independents, their ramparts would 
have made them still impregnable ; but every 
thing was wanting, projectiles, men, and an ac- 
quaintance with the art of fortification ; so that 
with the Spaniards to attack and take them, was 
the same thing. It is in these places only that a 
park of artillery, magazines tolerably well pro- 
vided, and barracks are to be found ; everywhere 
else, the soldier finds a lodging where he can. 

Near Bogota and Quito, the government has 
two powder-mills ; these are, however, inadequate 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



215 



to its demands ; the English supply the defi- 
ciency. 

The naval force of Colombia is composed of 
nineteen ships of war*, viz. six corvettes, seven 
brigs, and six galliots. It is clear, that these cannot 
be of much service in defending a line of coast 
a thousand leagues in extent : they, however, 
rendered important services in the war with Mo- 
rales, by blockading Maraca'ibo. The government 
is not insensible to its want of a maritime force, 
and for the purpose of rendering it respectable, 
has demanded a sum of 4,770,845 piastres, 
2 reals ; but where is such a sum to be found ? 

If numbers of English have entered the 
armies of Colombia, many Frenchmen like- 
wise serve on board their fleet ; they have even 
insured most of its successes, being ably se- 
conded by the mulatto Padilla, the commander- 
in-chief. 

It is in favour of all these foreigners that a 
law has been introduced, which grants them, at 
the expiration of two years' residence in the 
country, the rights of citizenship ; and, at the 
end of six months only, the same privileges to 
those who marry there, or who purchase land 
to the value of six thousand piastres. 

The power of England in America is withou t . 
a rival ; no fleets but hers are to be seen ; her 
merchandizes are bought almost exclusively ; her 

* Memoria del Senor Castillo. 



216 



TRAVELS IN THE 



commercial agents, clerks, and brokers, are 
every where to be met with, and her soldiers have 
contributed in Colombia, to the success of the 
cause of independence. 

This connexion with England is not of 
recent formation, it may be dated almost from 
the time of the establishment of the Spanish 
colonies ; for, in proportion as the mother coun- 
try added to the number of its prohibitive laws, 
the audacity of the English smugglers increas- 
ed *. The Americans, therefore, have constantly 
preserved their relations with England ; Spain 
herself has rendered them more active at diffe- 
rent periods, especially in 1796, by laws which 
openly authorized them. When the revolution 
burst forth, the ravages committed by English 
admirals and privateers, and the attack upon 
Carthagena by Vernon, in 1740, were therefore 
less thought of than the assistance which might 
be expected from that country. 

Every kind of succour was afforded, and 
upon credit ; arms, soldiers, ships, all arrived 
in America. Dear and expensive favours ! Mo- 
mentary circumstances imparted a degree of 
value to them ; it was forgotten, that India had 
been subjected by receiving similar ones, and 
that Buenos Ay res, in 1806, had seen the British 
standard floating upon its ramparts. 

The antipathies of religion and nationality 

* See Ulloa. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



217 



were surmounted *. Gratitude exercised its sway 
over the people, and they received the heretics 
like brothers. As soon as these were in the 
country, they placed their counters every where, 
laid them out with the greatest art, and dis- 
persed their goods, fashions, dresses, in every 
direction, in order that they might introduce 
themselves into the country without exciting at- 
tention. Their uniform was adopted in the army, 
with the exception of the sanguinary colour 
of their coats, to which that of the French 
uniform was preferred ; Colombia had English 
newspapers to direct its political opinions, and 
British ships to protect its commerce. 

The Colombians had met with a very gene- 
rous reception at Jamaica ; they there imbibed 
the English manners, and witnessing the opu- 
lence of that island, easily imagined what the 
English colossus must be. 

The first sentiment of the patriotic travellers 
was admiration ; the second, fear. 

The English perceived it ; they promised the 
Colombians, alarmed at the last revolution in 
Spain, to protect them, and to lend them their 
support and assistance. By way of obtaining the 

* Besides, the English and the Americans of the United 
States, who every where display so inveterate an animosity 
against the ceremonies of the Catholic worship, assist at 
their celebration in Colombia with a punctuality and a devo- 
tion equal to that of the most zealous Catholics. 



218 



TRAVELS IN THE 



guarantee, the latter considered themselves too 
fortunate in abandoning- to their benefactors all 
the revenues of the state, so that salt-mines, 
emeralds, pearls, steam-boats, and loans, were 
mutually interchanged by both parties. 

These were not the kind of relations which 
the nation was desirous of establishing with 
Europe ; all its wishes were with France : first, 
because it was under no pecuniary engagements 
with her, and, secondly, because it was mnch more 
intimately connected w T ith her by language, lite- 
rature, manners, customs, and especially, by reli- 
gion. 

The name most often pronounced by Spanish 
Americans is that of Rome. The clergy seems 
determined not to separate itself from the Romish 
church ; but, should the papal indecision be still 
further prolonged, it may create an impatience 
amongst the priests, who have, for a long time, 
been expecting the bulls of nomination. (Bulks 
d' institution.) 

The United States expected, from their 
proximity to the Colombian republic, to have held 
the first rank among the pow 7 ers friendly to this 
new state ; they have been strangely deceived ; 
the English have made them range themselves 
after the new independent states, so that they 
find themselves nearly in the same degree of con- 
sideration as Peru, Chili, and Buenos Ayres. 

The empires of Mexico and Brazil at one 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



219 



time inspired jealousies and fear ; but the fall of 
the firsts and the distance of the second, have 
dissipated every apprehension. 

The actual situation of Colombia, therefore, 
as is every where the case after civil wars, is not 
very brilliant ; but, notwithstanding the dis- 
asters which have embrued with blood the cradle 
of this republic, the public worship is still sur- 
rounded with pomp and magnificence ; its minis- 
ters, thanks to the piety of the faithful *, are well 
provided for, and are enabled to alleviate the 
afflictions of the poor. In fact, there are few 
livings, the income of which is below a thousand 
piastres, while a great number are worth more 
than twice that sum. Many bishoprics produce 
from sixty to eighty thousand piastres annually. 

The clergy then, in general, are rich and 
powerful ; it is calculated that the tithes of the 
seven bishoprics produce eight hundred thousand 
piastres yearly -f~, and that church property forms 
four-sixths of that of the republic. 

Although secretly attached to the Spaniards, 
the ecclesiastics are never seen at the head of po- 
pular movements ; aware of their true interests, 
they live far from the troubles which might com- 
promise the existence of the body to which they 
belong. 



* See Note IX. 



f Pombo, 1811. 



220 



TRAVELS IN THE 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Departure from Bogota for Popayan — Guaduas — Chaguani — Sau Juan- 
Return to Guaduas — Short stay in that Town — Beltran — Amba- 
lema — San Luis — Chaparral — Natagaima — Parande— Samboja — Villa 
Vieja — Neyva. 

After having passed three months at Bo- 
g-ota,, I prepared to quit that town at the com- 
mencement of the month of August. 

There were several routes by which I could 
return to Europe, and all presented an equal 
degree of interest ; it remained for me to choose 
one. The first, and the most frequented, that of 
Caracas, offered a considerable extent of country 
for observation ; but as many illustrious travel- 
lers had visited it before me, little could be 
added to their accounts. The Oronooko, from 
the importance it will be of at some future pe- 
riod, held out greater temptations ; but I had 
already traversed a country similar to that 
watered by this stream, in sailing up the Magda- 
lena ; lastly, I might have preferred the route of 
Maraca'ibo, opened by the successes of the pa- 
triots, to the two others, if, after having visited 
the eastern Cordillera, I had not thought it inte- 
resting and useful to examine that of the west, so 
much richer in minerals. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 221 



Having obtained a passport for Buenaven- 
tura, where it was my intention to embark, I left 
the capital of Colombia on the 9th of August, 
1823, at six o'clock in the morning. 

My baggage was much lighter than that 
which I had when coming from Carthagena; 
two mules sufficed to carry it. The guide, who 
had conducted me in the province of Socorro, ac- 
companied me in the capacity of muleteer. 

Two roads to Popayan, my first place of 
destination, presented themselves, that of Mesa 
Grande, and that of Guaduas ; I chose the latter. 

The roads which traverse the plain of Bogota 
are so excellent at this season, that we arrived at 
an early hour at Fontibon ; a short time after- 
wards we passed by Resuela, and were soon at 
Facatativa. The next day I descended from the 
immense plateau of Bogota by the narrow and 
dangerous paths of the mountains which sur- 
round it on every side, like walls destined to 
support an immense basin. 

Fortunately all was dry. Subject to the sea- 
sons of the plain commanding them, the vallies 
which are situated to the west, enjoy the fine 
weather which prevails above, with this differ- 
ence, however, that here a severe cold is con- 
tinually felt, while below, they are subject to a 
burning temperature. Here, it may likewise be 
remarked, that when the places situated, to the 
west of the Plateau of Bogota, enjoy summer, 



222 



TRAVELS IN THE 



those which are placed at the same altitude 
towards the coast experience the only winter 
of this climate in torrents of rain, daily poured 
from the clouds that have escaped from the 
plains of Meta. One very interesting peculiari- 
ty struck me, viz. that the inhabitants of the 
vallies on the west are much afflicted with 
goitres and epidemical complaints,* while those 
on the east entirely escape them. Further, to 
mark more strongly the difference which exists 
between the temperatures of the two vallies on 
the east and the west of the plains of Bogota, it 
must be added, that the harvests in the former 
are not gathered in until the month of October, 
while in the latter the whole is finished before the 
end of August. 

The roads were tolerably good ; and al- 
though my travelling companions were satisfied 
with them, they could not forbear cursing the 
Spaniards, who, in order to repair them, had 
employed very harsh measures, by forcing all 
those who had been condemned for political 
opinions to work on the highways, making them 
only a daily allowance of a pound of bread and a 
pound of meat. 

We at length lost sight of those prodigiously 
high mountains, against which the Plateau of 
Bogota rests ; and on the 1 1th of August, at an 

* In some places, only, the black leprosy appears. 



REPUBLIC OP COLOMBIA. 223 

early hour arrived at Billata, a village thirteen 
leagues distant from Bogota. 

In descending the immense pyramid of the 
Cordillera, I every where found the same shells 
which I had met with in the Socorro ; another 
sight, similar to that which had given me so much 
concern, when I was at Moniquira, now attracted 
my attention ; this was a lad tied down upon a 
mule, in the same manner, as with us they tie sheep 
or calves, who, in spite of his cries, was being 
conducted to Bogota, there to be tried for the 
crime of desertion. I had often before been asto- 
nished how a people, softened by a peace which 
had lasted three centuries, could thus quickly 
adopt a conduct so different from that to which 
they had been so long accustomed. May not the 
cause be discovered in those combats with ani- 
mals which the Spaniards introduced, and which 
habituating the people to spectacles of blood, 
prepared them for still more barbarous actions ? 
It is true that these dreadful tragedies seldom 
ended in death, yet notwithstanding, the Ameri- 
cans found in these exercises such perils and so 
lively a representation of war as familiarised 
them with the contest in which they afterwards 
dared to engage. 

I must confess that Guaduas appeared to 
me less pleasing upon descending from Bogo- 
ta, than when I passed through it on my first 
journey ; the features of the inhabitants, gene- 



224 



TRAVELS IN THE 



rally agreeable, now appeared to me to be pale 
and emaciated ; and I remarked a great num- 
ber of goitres which had escaped my notice in 
the midst of those illusions which this village 
had excited, on quitting the wretched shores of 
the Magdalena. I also perceived with regret, that 
the same men whom I formerly considered so 
cheerful and happy, were little better than noisy 
and intruding drunkards. 

In fact the people are incessantly employed 
in drinking brandy mixt with anniseed, under 
the pretence that this liquor is absolutely neces- 
sary in a hot climate ; a maxim, which as far as 
regards the moderate use, may be well founded, 
for it is very singular, that the ruling but feeble 
race of whites can neither exist nor work in 
the torrid zone, without drinking to excess. As 
soon as the weather becomes hot, they groan 
under its oppression, and the inhabitants of 
Guaduas afford a strong proof of the torments 
their fellow whites endure. Although the heat 
is very great in this city, it is however support- 
able, they are however continually complaining 
of it ; sometimes it is too hot, at others, they 
have violent stomach or head-aches. The higher 
classes of people especially, amongst whom goi- 
tres are most frequently found, enjoy but a very 
precarious state of health. 

I was obliged to remain at Guaduas until 
the 20th of August, when blindly confiding in 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 225 

the directions with which some of the inhabi- 
tants furnished me, I pursued the route they 
recommended. I started at half past ten in the 
morning', and, by noon, gained the summit of 
the chain of mountains which enclose the valley 
of Guaduas towards the west. I here contem- 
plated with admiration the immense plains, 
amongst which the Magdalena rolls its course. 
Thick forests cover its banks, and I imagined 
that a coolness might be found there, which 
would enable me to support the volumes of heat 
that I beheld, in the form of vapours, circula- 
ting in these burning regions. Scarcely had 
I descended a few yards, when I found myself 
envelopped in a suffocating atmosphere, which 
became still more overpowering when I arrived at 
the foot of the mountains. I was travelling in the 
shade, but not a breath of wind agitated the 
trees; on the contrary, their thick foliage deprived 
me of the little air I had respired in places 
more exposed. 

I had been previously informed that I should 
meet with no habitation in these deserts, but I 
had at least hoped to find water, the parched up 
beds of the torrents, however, no where afforded 
me a single drop ; it seemed as if, in a few 
hours, I had passed from the southern provinces 
of France, to the burning deserts of Africa. 
We were now so overcome with fatigue, that 
after consulting with the guide whom I had en- 

Q 





226 



TRAVELS IN THE 



gaged at Guaduas, I turned out of my route, and 
following a narrow path, arrived at an inhabited 
place called el Puerto del Corral, not far from 
the Magdalen a. 

The vicinity of this river has transformed 
the agriculturists, who have retired there, into 
fishermen. Their large nets, hung out upon the 
hedges which protect their sugar-cane fields from 
the cattle, made me believe that I should at least 
procure some fish. I asked for some, but was in- 
formed that the present season being that in which 
the southern winds prevailed, the fish were not 
able to ascend the river, in consequence of these 
gales increasing the rapidity of the current. 

This period of the year is, for these poor peo- 
ple, one of the greatest misery ; the burnt up 
plains are no longer productive, pasture is no 
where to be found ; even the borders of the ri- 
vers, whose stony beds now serve as a road, 
are destitute of all verdure. Every thing lan- 
guishes in that season which Europeans call the 
spring, the rigour of which rather recalls to mind 
our severest winters. During this time of scar- 
city, no less felt by man than by his flocks, 
the only nourishment he derives is from some 
bananas ; while a few sugar canes supply him 
with the only article of comfort, that can 
make him forget the heats so destructive to his 
health. 

The white inhabitants of these hot countries 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



227 



who, like all other men of that colour living with- 
in the tropics, are sickly, whatever may have 
been the period at which their ancestors took 
up their residence there, employ this season to 
some advantage ; it is then that they set fire to 
the bushes that cover the fields, and which, du- 
ring the rainy season, are converted into verdant 
meadows ; in the same manner, they burn the 
woods, in which they intend, either to sow maize, 
or plant sugar canes. These conflagrations, which 
destroy a great portion of the ancient forests, 
illumined with their brilliancy, the darkness of 
the night, for it is then that they generally set 
fire to them. Less industrious than the Africans, 
the inhabitants of these countries suffer their 
cattle to perish, rather than take, like the ne- 
groes, the trouble of procuring them food from 
the herbage of the trees, by which they might 
be supported during the terrible interval between 
the wet seasons. 

Venting our execrations on those who had 
induced us to take this frightful road, which 
is that used by smugglers, we arrived at nine 
o'clock at Puerto-Chaguani. It was here, upon 
the borders of the Magdalena, which I had al- 
ready coasted, that a suffocating heat indicated 
the approach of the disorder with which I was 
about to be attacked. In fact, before I could 
get to Palmar, the heat of the sun, and an intole- 
rable thirst occasioned aviolent fever : I was forced 

Q 2 



228 TRAVELS IN THE 

to alight under the outhouses of a cane mill-, 
where I remained until the evening of the fol- 
lowing day, very uneasy about the result of so 
sudden an illness. On the 22nd, I got as far as 
Palmar, where continual vomitings indicated 
that it was not there that I could hope for the re- 
establishment of my health ; I therefore resolved 
to return to the mountains, and the next day 
began to climb their sides. In proportion as I 
ascended, a salutary perspiration increased, a 
freer respiration succeeded, and by the time I 
arrived at St. Juan, I felt myself considerably 
better. This beautiful village, situated upon the 
top of one of those mountains, which overlook 
the Magdalena, presents an appearance of com- 
fort which must indeed be found there, since 
it is the resting place for the tobacco merchants, 
who coming from Ambalema, have passed the 
river in their journey to Santa-Fe. 

Unfortunately neither the beauty of the si- 
tuation, nor the continual passage of travellers, 
has inspired the members of the family of Rubio, 
the sole possessors of the village, with sentiments 
of hospitality. I could find no accommodation 
in St. Juan, and should have been obliged to 
have quitted it, if an amiable and charitable 
young man, the curate of the place, had not 
offered me an asylum in his own parsonage- 
house ; during the two days that I remained 
there my health rapidly improved. I did not 



REPUBLIC OP COLOMBIA. 



229 



however consider myself sufficiently recovered 
to prosecute my journey direct to Popayan ; it 
appeared to me requisite to seek some more ef- 
ficacious remedies than I could procure at St. 
Juan, and I consequently resolved to return to 
Guaduas. 

I bade adieu to this obliging curate, who 
had lately arrived at St. Juan, and who, in the 
midst of the respect, or to speak more correctly, 
the adoration of which he was the object, (for 
no one spoke to him but with bended knee,) 
had deigned to bestow upon me all the kind 
attentions of disinterested friendship. By noon, 
I was at Chiguani, a miserable spot, where the 
wretchedness of the inhabitants afforded me no 
assistance. I continued my journey to Gua- 
duas on the 26th and arrived there before noon. 
Here I devoted a fortnight to the re-establish- 
ment of my health, which three days of sickness, 
caused by too rapid a change from a moderate 
temperature to the equatorial heats, had terribly 
shattered. 

By the 25th of September, I thought myself 
sufficiently recovered to be again able to proceed 
to Popayan, whither I was accompanied by a 
mulatto, who had been recommended to me 
by the civil magistrate of Guaduas. I traversed 
the same route which I had previously pursued, 
and the same evening got as far as Mora, a 
hamlet upon the banks of the Magdalena. Al- 



230 



TRAVELS IN THE 



though I very much regretted the delay occa- 
sioned by my illness, I found that the latter 
part of the season possessed many advantages 
that I could not enjoy in my former journey. 
The sky being more cloudy, I was, in some mea- 
sure, protected from the scorching rays of the 
sun, while stronger gales from the south made 
the atmosphere less oppressive. 

At two o'clock in the afternoon of the fol- 
lowing day, I reached Beltran, the place of 
embarkation for crossing the Magdalena on the 
way to Ambalema. I had been advised to tra- 
vel along the right bank in ascending the river, 
but I gave a preference to the left, as afford- 
ing me an opportunity of making a greater num- 
ber of observations, of which in particular the 
tobacco plantations of Ambalema presented some 
that were very interesting. 

The passage of the Magdalena, which is 
often attended with danger, I safely accom- 
plished, at the expense of a dollar, in a pi- 
ruaga, to which my three mules were tied ; and 
I landed without accident upon the other side. 
An hour's journey brought me from the place of 
disembarkation to Ambalema. This village, 
which encloses within its boundaries some plan- 
tations of tobacco of an excellent auality, en- 
joys a moderate degree of prosperity. Every 
person seems in a bustle, and being better fur- 
nished with the means of subsistence, the in ha- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



231 



bitants appear to be less afflicted with disease, 
than in other parts of this country. Amba- 
lema is badly built, and its church, forming an 
exception very uncommon in Colombia, would, as 
an edifice, be destitute of all interest if it did not 
possess a choir of violins and wind instruments, 
that might vie into competition with the best 
that are to be found in the rest of the republic. 

The quantity of tobacco exported from Am- 
bale ma, is estimated at 2 or 3,000 loads, and 
the farming of it would be productive of much be- 
nefit to the government, were it not deprived of 
the greatest part of its revenues by the contraband 
trade, which maintains its ground in despite of 
the twenty guards, who are here supported at an 
expense of twenty dollars per month for each 
man. It is singular that, in all parts of the world, 
this class of men should be the subject of public 
animadversion, and even here, their culpable in- 
dulgence does not protect them from the hatred 
of the people. 

Tobacco of the first quality costs govern- 
ment three dollars per arroba, and of the second 
quality, ten reals ; it is retailed to private indivi- 
duals at double this price. The time of making 
these purchases is in April, May, and June. At 
a little distance to the east of Ambalema, is a 
place called Peladero, containing, according to 
report, many gold mines. 

On the 18th of September, after having taken 



232 



TRAVELS IN THE 



a fresh guide, which is indispensable in the plains 
of Magdalena where so many roads intersect 
each other, I left Ambalema. On the opposite 
side of the river I could discern nothing but 
very high mountains covered with forests, while 
the side on which I was travelling, was en- 
tirely destitute of the least shelter from the sultry 
heat of the day. The stony soil reflected the 
rays of the sun with terrible violence, and occa- 
sioned us much suffering, from which we could 
find no alleviation but in the pure and limpid 
stream that descends from the paramos of the 
western Cordilleras. 

We crossed the Benadillo which was nearly 
dry, although frequently at this season the moun- 
tain streams of the west suddenly swell, from the 
melting of the snow, to such an extent, that tra- 
vellers are compelled to remain several days be- 
fore they can ford them in safety. On the other 
side, on the contrary, the rivers being fed only 
by the rain 3 their parched beds afford, at the same 
period, an easy and commodious path. 

On both sides of the Magdalena, a few isola- 
ted cottages constructed with reeds, and con- 
taining a sickly and feeble population composed 
of different races of beings, are the sole asylums 
in these desolate regions ; thus, while in Africa 
the negroes congregate in small communities 
to defend themselves against the invasions of 
their neighbours, in these countries the inhabi- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



233 



tants pass their days remote from one another ; 
a few cows constituting their whole fortune, the 
wine of their palm trees their sole consolation. 

Sometimes they are found to possess a horse, 
whose whole harness consists of wooden stirrups, 
rope reins, and a piece of flat wood, by way of a 
saddle, while the little flesh upon his bones at- 
tests the frequent fasts he is obliged to endure in 
these sun-burnt plains. These animals are not 
however very dear, the best horses not selling for 
more than twenty dollars a piece. The master 
suffers as much from hunger as his beast, a little 
flour of maize being all his nourishment. 

I alighted about six o'clock at the hut of one 
of these savages in a place called Puertillo, but 
I only required a room for my luggage, as the 
mild temperature of the nights made me prefer 
sleeping in the open air. My hosts were plunged 
into the deepest misery, and I could have ima- 
gined I had before my eyes a family of Moors. 
The covering of the females perfectly recalled to 
my mind that of the women of Sahara, they wore 
a dress of blue African cotton, without sleeves, 
which they fastened across their shoulders with a 
cotton lace. The men wore nothing but a pair 
of drawers, and the upper part of their bodies 
were so sun-burnt, that the colour of their skin 
was almost completely black. They passed the 
whole of the night in drinking palm-wine, which, 
from their ignorance of the use of the African 



234 



TRAVELS IN THE 



hoop, they procure by felling the tree. This me- 
thod would ultimately drain the source of their 
pleasures, if the infinite number of the palm-trees 
and the smallness of the population did not, at 
least for a long time to come, remove the appre- 
hension of so great a misfortune. 

At an early hour in the morning, we left this 
hut of christian savages of the Magdalena, and 
soon after met some inhabitants of Ibagua, who 
were going on a pilgrimage to Mendes, a village 
at a little distance from Honda. An image of 
the holy Virgin has given it celebrity ; when 
this was first placed there, the town was very 
diminutive, but since that time it has encreased 
every year in a most miraculous manner. Reli- 
gion, in thus imparting a peculiar sanctity to 
certain places, has opened away for commerce, 
and has established communications amongst 
men in spite of bad roads, the dangers of the 
journey, and the policy acted upon by the Spa- 
niards which tended to isolate the inhabitants as 
much as possible. 

The heat appeared to me to be more support- 
able in proportion as we advanced towards the 
south, and approached the source of the river ; 
the vicinity of the snowy summits of Quindiu, 
was the principal cause of this change in the 
temperature ; the ground was much less arid* 
and much less encumbered with stones. The 
grass was no longer rarely to be found, nor was it 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



235 



burnt up with the heat ; the appearance of the 
verdure reanimated our beasts, andgladdened our 
sight. We were now in the vast meadows of 
the Cordilleras ; and, had it not been for the 
rays of the sun and the sight of the palm-trees, 
which on all sides majestically waved their 
heads, I could have believed that I had quitted 
the burning soil of the tropics, and had again en- 
tered the European vallies of the Cordilleras. 

I crossed the Totarus, and afterwards the 
China, two rivers of great magnitude in the 
rainy season, but which, at other periods, are 
very low. Our passage up them was therefore 
effected without danger, although we were a 
long time in discovering the ford ; a hut at a 
little distance afforded us an asylum. 

I now greatly congratulated myself that I 
had taken the route of the Magdalena for my 
journey to Popayan, in preference to that of the 
Mesa, which is usually preferred; for one expe- 
riences an infinite satisfaction in the traversing, 
in all its length, the immense valley of this river, 
no less beautiful than the plateau of Bogota. I 
had the advantage of enjoying a very refreshing 
gale from the south, which sprung up about two 
oclock every day, and continued blowing till 
night, sufficiently strong to temper the ardent 
heat of the sun. The people that I met with on 
the road enabled me to form an opinion of the in- 
habitants in the plains of the Oronooko, to whom 
I was assured they bore a great resemblance. 



236 



TRAVELS IN THE 



I crossed the Chipalo early in the morning", 
as well as several other rivers,, the deep vallies of 
whose beds intersected my path at every step ; a 
circumstance that had not happened to us before, 
as the waters of the torrents we had hitherto 
passed were on a level with the surrounding 
plains. We left Ibagua on our left ; and, al- 
though we were at a considerable distance, 
could clearly distinguish the church steeple, 
though almost an imperceptible point in the 
midst of the prodigious summits of Quindiu, 
which elevated themselves above the town. If 
my design of proceeding along the course of the 
Magdalena, as far as Neyva, had not been tho- 
roughly determined upon, the sight of this impos- 
ing spectacle would have instantly inspired me 
with the resolution of crossing the Quindiu, and 
entering the valley of Cauca. Every thing con- 
duced to invite me to such an undertaking ; the 
season was very favourable, the mountains, at 
this time, well frequented, presented but few 
dangers, and without having recourse to the 
shoulders of porters, this terrible passage might 
have been performed in five days, upon mules 
trained at Ibagua for that purpose, and hired at 
the trifling expence of sixteen dollars. 

I, however, continued my route to Neyva, 
and had no reason to repent of my determi- 
nation. Thanks to the influence of the moun- 
tains covered with snow, which form the 
Quindiu, the verdure was every where most 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



237 



beautiful. The less shrivelled appearance of the 
shrubs announced a less arid temperature than 
that which pervaded the lower regions. We had 
a still better opportunity of observing the bene- 
ficial effects of a change in the temperature, on 
descending into the deep abyss which forms the 
bed of the Cuello. The chilly, limpid streams of 
this river, which rises in the snowy tops of Car- 
tago, run through a tract of country much 
lower than the surrounding plains, so that when 
we viewed them from the level of the river, they 
appeared like a chain of mountains, nor was it pos- 
sible for us to conceive that they were all of an 
equal altitude. 

The coolness experienced in these deep hol- 
lows is most delicious, and the vegetation is on 
the grandest scale ; nothing can be more delight- 
ful than the ravine of the Cuello. It might be 
said to be composed of different stages, and the 
lower one descends, the greater the fertility be- 
comes ; it is for this reason that it is chosen as a 
spot for the cultivation of tobacco, and the crop 
which it produces is considered the best of 
the Magdalena. The breadth of this valley is 
considerable, and although it is a long journey to 
reach the opposite banks, the prospect on all sides 
is so extremely beautiful, that the distance is lost 
in the enjoyment of it. The gentle warmth that 
is felt between the tropics, the shade of the palm 
and the bombax, and the fresh verdant turf 



238 



TRAVELS IN THE 



which is like a carpet under the feet, impart 
such sensations of delight, as banish every idea 
of fatigue. Our joy was complete, on receiving 
the rights of hospitality in the residence of one of 
the guardians of these fruitful abodes. So great 
a value is set upon the spots appropriated to the 
rearing of cattle, that very strong hedges are 
every where planted : these are kept in excellent 
order, and are provided with large gates, which 
are carefully guarded by men. 

The inexpressible charm of these places has 
naturally imparted some amenity to the character 
of the inhabitants. They possess none of that 
ferocious aspect which distinguishes their neigh- 
bours in the plains of Puertillo ; they are oblig- 
ing, attentive, and hospitable, with an air of 
robust health created by plenty of good food. I 
here provided myself with a stock of meat dried in 
the sun.* Near the puerta San Francisco, where 
we had passed the night, is the beginning of the 
plain which is called by the natives Llano Grande, 
and which is distinguished from every other we 
had before passed over by the almost perpetual 
verdure that every where covers it ; by the 
very few stones to be found upon it; and by 
the considerable number of cattle that were 
seen grazing in every direction. Three roads are 
found at the puerta San Francisco : one leading to 

* The butchers cut their meat into strips, and sell it by the 
yard. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



239 



Espinal, a village situated near the borders of the 
Magdalena ; the other to Goamon, which is a 
little further distant from it; and the third to 
San-Luis, built at the foot of the western Cordil- 
leras. I took the latter. We travelled upon a Sun- 
day, and met numbers of people upon the road 
going- to visit their respective priests ; those who 
were on their way to San-Luis soon left me 
behind them, men and women being all mounted 
on horseback. The females were wrapped from 
head to foot in cotton dresses, to protect them 
from the sun ; for, to repeat what I have before 
observed, both whites and mulattoes are unable 3 
like the negroes, to support the intensity of its 
rays. 

After having passed the m ountains of Gua- 
duas, I approached the Cordilleras ; it became 
necessary to descend into the abyss, which the 
Luisa has worked in its passage, and which pre- 
sents a frightful sterility, scarcely the least ver- 
dure appearing even upon the borders of the 
river ; the opening by which it escapes from the 
barrier of the Cordilleras, appears to have been 
the effect of an earthquake. 

We were completely bewildered amid the 
intricacies of a real labyrinth, and were many 
times obliged to cross the dangerous bed of the 
river, and travel along its sandy banks. It was 
four o'clock before we quitted this gulf, which we 
had entered at three. Having at length sur- 



240 



TRAVELS IN THE 



mounted these difficulties, I had the pleasure of 
seeing San-Luis, where I soon arrived. A spec- 
tacle of desolation arrested my attention : a few 
days before, half the village had been destroyed 
by fire, and notwithstanding the generosity of N. 
Caicedo, one of the richest proprietors of this 
country, many of the inhabitants still remained 
in the streets. 

Thanks to the care of this worthy man, I 
did not experience the same inconvenience ; for 
I obtained a very comfortable lodging in the par- 
sonage-house. Here I remained two days, being 
obliged to exchange one of my mules that had 
got injured, and procure myself another guide, 
both which arrangements were concluded to my 
satisfaction. 

The site of the village of San-Luis is very 
beautiful : well sheltered by the mountains from 
the north-easterly winds, its temperature is con- 
tinually refreshed by gentle gales ; and although 
its seclusion from the more frequented parts 
might seem to prevent its becoming of any com- 
mercial importance, the sale of sugar manufac- 
tured from the plantations of sugar-cane which 
abound in its neighbourhood, causes it to be 
much frequented by dealers in that article. 
The neighbouring mountains abound in mines of 
silver. 

Almost every body is either afflicted with 
goitres, or covered with the black leprosy, which 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



241 



afflicts the white population in the same manner 
as the white leprosy attacks the blacks : both 
the one and the other render the inhabitants 
most hideous figures. 

Upon arriving at San-Luis on the 22d of 
September, I found the rains had already com- 
menced in these plains. I therefore started the 
next day to endeavour to reach the sources of 
the river before the wet might impede my fur- 
ther progress. Before night- fall, I halted at a 
solitary hut ; but I was well prepared against 
any deficiency of provisions, as it had been my 
practice for a long time to carry with me a 
store for several days, especially of bread, 
since in all these regions no species of corn is 
cultivated : it is imported from the eastern Cor- 
dilleras. 

I found my guide, with whom I was well 
satisfied, to be an interesting, intelligent fellow, 
and far from possessing the usual taciturnity of 
the Indians ; he talked much, and kept up a very 
animated conversation. Born in Socorro, he had 
all the vivacity of his countrymen ; had been a 
great traveller ; had made considerable observa- 
tions : and, what was more surprising, recol- 
lected all he had seen. I learnt from him, that 
in the chain of the Quindiu, at the foot of which 
we were travelling, there still existed many tribes 
of independent Indians, but that there was no 
danger to be apprehended in meeting with them, 

R 



242 



TRAVELS IN THE 



as had been sufficiently proved by numbers 
of persons who were proscribed during- the late 
warfare, and had sought refuge in the woods 
that cover these mountains, 

We perceived Chaparral in the south-west, 
at the extremity of a very extensive plain, sepa- 
rated by a chain of mountains from that in 
which we were ; its distance is one day's jour- 
ney from San-Luis ; it is celebrated for the 
storms that continually burst over it, and the rich 
minerals that are discovered at every step ; the 
hollow in which Chaparral is situated, into which, 
in the rainy season, the north-east winds drive 
with all their fury, is without doubt the cause 
of those meteors that so frequently glide along its 
atmosphere, continually charged with vapours. 

At an early hour, we reached the borders 
of the Saldana river, which rises in the Cha- 
parral, and from the sands of whose banks some 
gold is obtained ; but the thirsty traveller re- 
gards as a treasure, far more precious the palm- 
trees that overshadow its waters, less pure, in- 
deed, than those of the Cuello; but at the same 
time less chilly, and consequently less dan- 
gerous. A piruaga carried us across for the 
moderate charge of two reals. 

We now entered the territories of the Indians 
of Coaima whose villages are situated upon the 

* It is not without reason that the Indians regret the 
ancient order of things, since they then enjoyed the privileges 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



243 



brow of the western mountains. Upon quit- 
ting the borders of the Saldana, we could dis- 
cover nothing before us but plains of an im- 
mense extent, covered with withered herbage ; 
the soil is nevertheless of a very good quality, 
but it is never refreshed by the cool breezes that 
blow from off the snowy mountains of the 
Quindiu. 

The assertion, that the Indians possess none 
of those virtues which atone for many of the 
vices of the mulattoes, is not incorrect ; the 
truth of this I experienced in one of those huts 
which we encountered in our route, and in which 
I determined to pass the night, as in these soli- 
tudes no better habitation was to be seen. I 
could not attribute the cold reception I expe- 
rienced, to the generally received opinion of 
every stranger being a heretic, but rather to the 
egotism of my host, and to the blind hatred of 
the Indians to every individual who does not 
belong to their cast. 

Like all the Indians inhabiting the plains, 
the family of my host wore no other clothing 

of landed proprietors : the republic has deprived them of these, 
by making* them only usufructuaries of that property, of which 
it is virtually the sole possessor, since it alone has the right of 
selling- it. The republic has, however, given to the Indian vil- 
lages, alcaids of their own cast, subject to a white alcaid ; but 
the latter exercises no other species of authority over them 
than that of transmitting to them the orders of government. 

R 2 



244 



TRAVELS IN THE 



than a strip of cloth round their loins in the 
manner of the Africans, the rest of the body 
being quite naked. A flock of sheep, which 
they watched with an attention common through 
all the Cordilleras, formed the whole of their 
fortune. The wool, which is but of a very in- 
different quality, is collected with great care, and 
sold in the neighbouring villages at the price of 
twelve reals the arroba. This is a great change 
from what was formerly the practice, for they 
used actually to pay persons for shearing the 
sheep, and did not set the least value upon 
the wool. Arts and civilization gradually ad- 
vance ; but how slow is the education of these 
people ! All foreigners are still Triptolemi, Bac- 
chusses, and Vulcans, and cannot but be be- 
nefactors in a country where the people are 
ignorant of every thing. Compared with the 
state of perfection to which we have arrived, the 
inhabitants of South America bear the same re- 
lation to us, as they bore to the Spaniards at 
the time of the discovery of this continent ; they 
knew nothing then, and actually all they know 
now is by hearsay, or by a few books, which some 
educated persons have commenced reading ; no- 
thing as yet has been carried into execution. 

The following day, about noon, I passed 
through Natagaima, another Indian village, for- 
merly built in another place, and afterwards re- 
moved here from motives of salubrity and greater 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



245 



public utility. According to the popular tradi- 
tion, the patron saint of the ancient place has 
twice set fire to the new church ; so that, when 
I visited it, Natagaima was without a place of 
worship. I know not why they call this misera- 
ble hamlet an Indian village, for it contains but 
very few Indians, nearly all the inhabitants being 
mulattoes, and as it is only about six leagues 
from la Purification, many of the inhabitants 
of this part of the Magdalena have settled at 
Natagaima. On the opposite side in the eastern 
Cordilleras we had a prospect of the villages of 
Paramo and Alpujada. 

From the place where I crossed the An- 
chiqua, the distance between the two Cordille- 
ras is lessened, and the plains begin to be co- 
vered with bushy trees. Two days after we per- 
ceived a mountain which projected forward 
into the plains like a promontory into the ocean ; 
and by six in the evening we arrived at the spot : 
its name is Pakande, and I was informed it con- 
tained copper-mines. From the numerous vol- 
canic stones which are every where scattered 
about, as well as from the gaps in the earth, 
of which there are numerous traces, and from 
the peak with which the Pakanda is surmounted, 
there cannot be the least doubt of its having 
been, at some period, the mouth of a volcano. 

Having fallen in with some huts at a little 
distance, we demanded hospitality : it was offered 



246 



TRAVELS IN THE 



us by a little child, and during the time that 
we were making the best use of it^ he made his 
escape to announce our arrival, and to give an 
alarm to his friends, who were occupied in the 
fields. Thus, until six o'clock in the evening, 
we were sole occupiers of the dwelling ; at this 
time the proprietor returned, and appeared tran- 
quillized as to our intentions, satisfied that, with- 
out standing upon any ceremony, we had made 
ourselves at home. At the bottom of his heart, this 
Indian, perhaps, cursed our intrusion; for to 
speak the truth, the continual passage of undis- 
ciplined troops, has every where greatly increased 
the distress of the inhabitants ; if they suppose 
that the traveller is a military man, they betake 
themselves to flight as soon as they gain sight 
of him, as they would at the approach of an im- 
placable enemy, and the timid beings leave him 
master of all they possess: this is not worth 
much, scarcely ever exceeding a little maize, and 
a few green bananas. 

My foreign appearance has often made me 
pass some miserable moments, for after the fa- 
tigues of a toilsome day, when I have approached 
a place to which I had fondly looked forward to 
obtaining some comfortable refreshment, I have 
found myself unable to obtain either fire or 
water, and have been obliged to content myself 
with some bananas, and the bread and dried 
meat which I always carried with me : — if on the 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



247 



contrary the master of the house has had the cou- 
rage to remain, and if to the question with which 
he invariably at first addressed me : " Colonel, 
are your soldiers with you r" I replied, " I have 
none," his countenance has sparkled with joy, 
and, his fears being dissipated, he has treated 
me with an obliging attention that dread could 
never have commanded. 

On the 26th we quitted the territory of the 
Indians of Natagairna, through every part of 
which reigns a frightful solitude. At eleven 
o'clock, I passed that part in which the western 
Cordillera has the least width, so that upon gain- 
ing the summit, the route is continually upon a 
descent towards the west, we there saw the vil- 
lage of Lateko, near which are the gold mines of 
Apore, said to be very rich. Further on we en_ 
tered upon a more woody country, covered 
with palm-trees, the trunks of which are stronger 
than those were of Africa, the oil extracted from 
them is of great importance as an article of 
commerce ; it is used instead of butter. At inter- 
vals, posts are set up to mark the distances, and 
here and there tambos,^ for the accommodation 
of travellers, as it is but very rarely that any habi- 
tions are to be met with ; they may indeed occa- 
sionally be seen, but then they are perched upon 
the steepest acclivities, and so dispersed, that they 
doubtless have but very little communication 

* A Peruvian word, signifying caravansary. 



248 



TRAVELS IN THE 



with each other. The distance at which these peo- 
ple live from any parish church, obliges them to 
inter their dead in the fields. These tombs are 
usually erected by the side of the most frequented 
routes, and thus amidst the wilds of the Cordil- 
lera we may recognize a custom that was com- 
mon to the Greeks and Romans. These sepul- 
chres, the sole evidence of the residence of hu- 
man beings, do not, in such a situation, excite 
melancholy reflections, as they show that, at a 
short distance, resides the family of the person 
who here reposes in his last abode, and a certain 
pleasure is experienced at the certainty of not 
being in an uninhabited desert. I however for- 
bore seeking in the woods for the concealed dwel- 
lings, and hastened to arrive again upon the bor- 
ders of the Magdalena which I crossed at a place 
that is called Samborja. The river, at this spot, 
is not very wide, and its green tinged waters 
show that it is fed from the sources of the Para- 
mos. 

We soon crossed to the other side, where we 
obtained a little refreshment from some fisher- 
men. We partook of it in company with some 
bogas, who were conducting balsas or rafts laden 
with cocoa. Eacli raft contained twenty loads, 
the expense being six dollars for the whole voyage. 
This means of carriage is the one mostly used in 
these cantons, on account of the rocky banks 
every where met with, besides the luggage boats 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



249 



seldom come higher up the river than Am- 
balema. 

The heat of the place as well as the noisy 
company with which I was surrounded, deter- 
mined me to sleep in the open air, at the risk of 
being* blooded by the mosquitoes. This was not 
the only inconvenience which reminded me of the 
uncomfortable resting places lower down the 
river, for in this one, the crying of children, with 
the dread of serpents, scorpions, and millepedes, 
very common in these parts, did not leave me a 
single moment of repose. Happy should I have 
been if my hostess, to relieve the wearisomeness 
of a long night, had continued chaunting her 
Indian ditties whilst she was swinging in her 
hammock, and accompanying herself with her 
guitar. By midnight every one except myself was 
in a state of repose, but the hideous noises made 
by a troop of pigs and dogs, that seemed to try 
which could most frighten each other, prevented 
me from closing my eyes. 

At day break, I ordered the guides to saddle 
the mules, and joyfully quitted the unfortunately 
encountered hut of Samborja. Before ten I ar- 
rived at Villa-Vieja, a village about six Spa- 
nish leagues distance, where I established my- 
self for the remainder of the day, under a shed 
thatched with reeds, that an inhabitant gave me 
permission to occupy. The road as far as Villa- 
Vieja had been excessively fatiguing for seve- 



250 



TRAVELS IN THE 



ral days past ; there were none of those south-west- 
erly breezes that so charmingly temper the plains 
of Ambalema and San-Louis. We had travelled 
all the day under a burning heat, caused by 
the nature of the ground which is composed of 
sharp stones, and rocks bearing so close a re- 
semblance to ruined fortresses, that it is diffi- 
cult not to imagine them the produce of men's 
labour ; these works of nature vie with those as- 
tonishing pyramids that Ulloa mentions having 
seen in his travels in Peru. 

Villa-Vieja is situated at a little distance 
from the Magdalena, the heat of its climate is 
suffocating, on account of the approximation of 
the two Cordilleras, the eastern range of which 
is here so little elevated, that it forms no impe- 
diment to the winds of the plains of Guaviare, 
which sweep along the bed of the river. It is 
asserted that these winds never reach across the 
Magdalena, but I had no opportunity of veri- 
fying the fact ; it is not so however with the nor- 
therly winds, for their influence is general. 

The church of Villa-Vieja, which they were 
building when I was at the place, deserves some 
notice Its architect is a negro ; his plan upon 
the model of some churches at Bogota is regu- 
lar, and shews much study and good taste. 
This edifice will cost the parish 14,000 dollars, 
but this enormous sum will be paid by all the 
wealthy inhabitants, each being required to 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



251 



leave at his death, funds sufficient to construct 
a square yard of the building.* 

Opposite to Villa-Vieja, is Aipa, a village 
inhabited by Indians, who are reputed by the 
lower orders to be well skilled in astrology. 

The heat, which I had experienced during the 
preceding day, made me regret that I had not 
followed the advice of my guides, to travel as 
much as possible by night. For once I gave 
them credit for being right, and leaving Villa- 
Vieja at two o'clock in the morning, we got to 
Fortalissa by ten ; here I found some mer- 
chants who were travelling to Bogota with the 
intention of making a purchase of salt, and car- 
rying it to Popayan. 

Resuming my journey, I discovered in the 
midst of the arid plains in which I had been tra- 
velling since the morning, a wood intersected 
with numerous paths, forming a screen that de- 
prived us of a view of Neyva, but affording us 
a shelter from the overpowering heat which we 
had experienced in the plains of Villa-Vieja. 
Some brooks spread around a delicious coolness 
in these groves, and their waters flowed on all 
sides through a multitude of trenches which the 
inhabitants of Neyva had opened, to water the 
roots of their cocoa trees. The cool tempe- 
rature enjoyed in this place is very agreeable, 

* The bricks used in this building-, are very large ; they 
cost 1 5 piastres a thousand. 



252 



TRAVELS IN THE 



and the air was scented with the perfume of 
flowers which grew along the borders of the 
rivulets. I forgot all my sufferings in this de- 
lightful garden, although, had it been the rainy- 
season, I should, on the contrary, have been mi- 
serable at finding myself in the midst of im- 
passable marshes, formed by the overflowing 
of the rivers, and arresting the progress of every 
traveller. 

At two o'clock we entered Neyva, where 
hospitality was immediately afforded us, for 
which we were indebted to one of the wealthy 
inhabitants. I requested a continuance of his 
courtesy for two days, but he would not limit 
it. This time was however sufficient for me to 
procure a mule, one of my own having been 
injured at Fortalissa. They had neglected 
shoeing it, an omission which causes the loss of 
great numbers of these beasts of burden. I had 
also to procure a new guide, the one whom I had 
engaged at San-Louis being about to leave me 
and return home. 

Neyva which is seventeen days' journey from 
Bogota, is the chief town of the province of that 
name. It is situated on the borders of the Mag- 
dalena, was formerly built on the mountains, 
where the Andaquis, a race of savage Indians 
living in the neighbourhood, massacred all the 
inhabitants ; the terror which they spread occa- 
sioned the site of the new town to be placed 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



253 



near the river., so that, upon the least alarm, the 
people might embark and escape their fury. 

The climate of Neyva is excessively hot, but 
the waters of the Magdalena are very cold, being 
supplied from the neighbouring paramos. Their 
colour is greenish, and although their taste is not 
disagreeable, the springs, which traverse the 
town, are preferred for drinking. The caymans 
never show themselves near Neyva. 

Opposite this place, is the hamlet of Saint 
Andras, in the environs of which gold is collected. 
The ground near the village of St. Antonio, si- 
tuated in the cold regions of the eastern Cor- 
dilleras, produces a great quantity of fine ve- 
getables. No difficulty would therefore be ex- 
perienced in obtaining crops of corn, but the 
inhabitants, reluctant to depart from long es- 
tablished customs, prefer bringing flour from 
Bogota, at the rate of sixteen dollars per load, 
to procuring it at their own doors with very lit- 
tle trouble. 

Cocoa forms the principal riches of Neyva. 
It is estimated that this province alone furnishes 
annually two thousand loads, a large portion 
of which comes from the town of Timana, al- 
though its population does not exceed two thou- 
sand souls. A load of cocoa cost thirty piastres. 
The expense of transporting it to Honda, is es- 
timated at twenty reals. It is one of those articles, 
which with coffee and sugar, is not subject to tithes. 



254 



TRAVELS IN THE 



As Neyva produces no sugar, it is obtained either 
from Mesa, or from la Plata, at the rate of one 
real per pound ; salt likewise is procured from the 
same place at the same price. 

The inhabitants of Neyva have, by the way 
ofTimana, some intercourse with the Andaquis, 
w r ho live about eight days' journey from this place, 
near the source of the Magdalena. They furnish 
these Indians with knives, looking-glasses, glass 
beads, &c, and receive in exchange wax of a 
brilliant whiteness, and varnish which they use 
in covering several sorts of wooden bowls. The 
preparation of this varnish is very simple ; the 
workman puts it in his mouth, masticates it, 
spreads it into leaves with the palms of his hands, 
and thus applies it on the colours. Neyva is by 
no means opulent, for the war, as well as the fre- 
quent ravages of the ants, has nearly ruined it. 
The streets are not paved, there are not six hou- 
ses covered with tiles. The greater part of the 
population is composed of men of colour, and 
the diseases to which they are most subject are 
the elephantiasis and leprosy. 

The principal town in the province after 
Neyva is Timana, situated near the sources of 
the Magdalena ; this town is the last of the re- 
public in the basin of this river ; beyond it only a 
few hamlets, some solitary huts and savages are 
to be met with. The journey to the sources of 
the Magdalena cannot be performed on horseback, 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



255 



for the roads, upon some of the highest moun- 
tains are so narrow, as only to be traversed by 
foot passengers. 

Rafts are the only mode of navigation in all 
these parts, the trunk of a tree forms the keel, 
and some reeds the deck and hold. On these fra- 
gile rafts guided only by a single oar, a whole 
family will sometimes fearlessly commit itself to 
the rapid current of the river, being certain 
that their flexible materials will bend, but not 
break, if dashed against the rocks. In this man- 
ner a poor labourer prepares for his journey to 
Honda. He hastily constructs his raft, places in 
it a few sacks of cocoa, seats his wife upon them, 
and, with his dog at his side, takes his oar, and 
through the midst of the breakers, steers his 
hopes and his beloved, whose cotton mantle 
sometimes suspended to the mast, forms a sail 
which increases the swiftness of his bark. 



256 



TRAVELS IN THE 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Tambo del Ovo— Passo Domingarios — Rope Bridge — La Plata — Pedregat 
— San Francisco— Insa — Mountain of Guanacas — Totoro— Panikita — 
Popayan — Volcano of Purace. 

I quitted Neyva on the 30th of September at 
seven o'clock in the morning ; in the evening, 
I perceived by the road-side, a cottage of rather 
inviting appearance ; what was my surprise upon 
arriving at it, to find it stripped and deserted, 
its owners, pillaged by the soldiers, had fled into 
the mountains. There being no other habitation 
in the neighbourhood, my guides overcame their 
fear of ghosts, and we put up for the night in 
this solitary hut. As a substitute for a kettle to 
cook our supper in, we placed some stones in 
the fire, these when red hot, we threw into a ca- 
labash containing some chocolate ; this formed 
our repast. 

The next day, the 1st of October, I passed 
through Ovo, and Sevilla, villages situated on 
our left, and breakfasted at the tambo of Ovo. 

The tambos are thatched sheds, erected upon 
the highways by the nearest municipalities as 
caravansaries of merchants and soldiers, but in 
general very little accommodation is to be found 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



257 



in them. In the neighbourhood of the tambo 
del Ovo, several cottages have been built ; in 
these women dress provisions, which, although 
coarse, are very welcome ; it is astonishing that 
this example has not been imitated in the neigh- 
bourhood of other tambos, by inducing persons 
to settle there, who would thus be of great uti- 
lity to travellers. It is true that the majority of 
these carry their provisions with them, that is 
to say, a few yards of dried meat,* and chocolate ; 
they are almost always provided with moist sugar, 
which, in this country, is generally eaten pre- 
viously to drinking water : the consumption is 
therefore considerable. 

After quitting the tambo del Ovo, several 
ravines are traversed, the inhabitants of which 
wash the sand to procure from it the particles of 
gold with which it is mixed ; the Llanos or plains 
are then quitted for the mountains, where, the 
roads leading from Neyva to Timana and to 
Gigante, and on the other side to the Mag- 
dalena unite, only to separate : we chose the 
latter one. Before night, I arrived on the banks of 
this river which I crossed at the Passo Domin- 
garios ; this did not take up much time, as the 
Magdalena is not above thirty toises in width. 
Having disembarked on the strand, which is whol- 
ly composed of pebbles and rocks, we proceeded 

* Dried meat is always cut into strips, and sold by the 
yard. 

S 



258 



TRAVELS IN THE 



to a hut known by my guide ; it was at a con- 
siderable distance from the road, the intention 
of the owner being, as he afterwards informed 
me, to escape the billeting and the pillage of 
the soldiery. 

This man received us with kindness, and 
lodged us in his own room : it was a stinking pi- 
geon house : the birds which were perched over 
our heads, hindered us from sleeping by their 
cooings, and our host took the opportunity 
of telling us how much he regretted the destruc- 
tion of a chapel erected near his hut, which 
had been entrusted to his care by the curate of 
Neyva ; this charge had lately been confided to 
him upon condition of his placing there a mira- 
culous Virgin ; in fulfilment of this bargain, the 
poor fellow had undertaken a laborious journey 
to Santa-Fe, had there purchased of a very pious 
woman an image gifted with miraculous powers, 
and congratulating himself at having obtained it 
at the moderate price of twelve piastres, had 
returned in all haste to his chapel and his hut. 

The curate, satisfied with his scrupulous 
exactitude, lost no time in attributing to the 
sacred image the most efficacious virtues, placed 
it with no small pomp and solemnity in the most 
striking part of the chapel, and established a 
fete in honour of this patroness, to which the 
parishioners were annually invited. The journey 
from Neyva to passo Domingarios, is so agreeable 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



259 



amid a rich and fertile country, that it was fre- 
quented by crowds ; our host, as a reward for his 
devotions, found plenty of hungry pilgrims re- 
pair to his hut, and had the precaution to furnish 
it well with all sorts of provisions ; these it was 
not difficult to obtain, for the offerings brought 
by the pious, such as eggs, fowls, &c, served 
them afterwards as a meal. This prosperity was 
however transitory : the war broke out, the sol- 
diers of the republic contented themselves with 
eating the offerings, and respected the image of 
the chapel ; but the Spaniards broke it in pieces : 
" Therefore," added our host, with all the satisfac- 
tion of vengeance, " these wretches of Godos* 
are now beaten on all sides, God punishes them 
in every battle for their infamous sacrilege." 

The next day I continued ascending, for the 
country began to be very elevated, and the roads 
became in consequence very bad. Population was 
so scarce, that we were obliged to take our repose 
in the middle of the fields : sometimes halting 
under a tree by the side of a rivulet. Between 
the tropics, it is a treat to breakfast in the shade, 
and to procure fresh and limpid water. 

If the dispersion of the inhabitants caused 
by the fear inspired by the passage of troops, is 
favourable to the clearing of new lands and the 



* Goths ; the name given by the Colombians to the Spa- 
niards. 

s 2 



260 



TRAVELS IN THE 



increase of the population which is always on 
the decline in towns ; on the other hand, as the 
markets are not held in consequence of the des- 
truction of the villages, no one sows more than is 
sufficient for the maintenance of his family ; this 
is very little : the church even offers but a small 
attraction, as the ecclesiastics no longer mount 
the pulpit except to preach contribution and tax- 
ation ; men consequently accustom themselves to 
live isolated, and visit each other but seldom; and 
when intercourse is interrupted amongst a peo- 
ple, commerce, agriculture, and industry become 
extinct; ignorance spreads itself in all direc- 
tions, and excesses of every kind are the conse- 
quence. 

The western Cordillera in which we then 
were, did not appear to me more practicable than 
that of the east, for I found the roads there equally 
as difficult and dangerous. The pass which we 
surmounted about nine o'clock in the morning, is 
named the Volador del Nema, and is not unat- 
tended with danger. The word volador signifies 
a mountain on the side of which a path has been 
formed, but so narrow, that in many places two 
mules cannot pass each other ; when such a cir- 
cumstance happens, one of them is obliged to 
return backwards, until he comes to a place 
wide enough to allow the other to get by him. 
Precipices of a frightful depth border these slip- 
pery roads. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



261 



These difficulties happily overcome, we found 
ourselves in a plain of considerable extent, si- 
tuated on the summit of a lofty mountain ; it is 
very fertile, and enjoys a delightful temperature, 
its breadth is inconsiderable, so that to the right 
and left of the bottom of the mountain, we could 
perceive deep vallies covered with rich meadows. 
That which we had on our right is watered by the 
PaT, a river that falls into the Magdalena, at the 
Passo-Domingarios. — To the north-west is Car- 
niseria a small hamlet, thinly peopled ; and at a 
distance is Nataya inhabited by a tribe of Indians, 
who speak a language peculiar to themselves. 

The heat we experienced was here tempered 
by breezes from the west south-west, which con- 
tinued to blow till we arrived at Paical. — We 
found the village deserted, it having been depo- 
pulated the year before by an epidemia ; violent 
pains in the head and loins, followed by the fre- 
quent spitting of black blood, were the first symp- 
toms of the disease, which generally proved fatal 
on the eleventh day. Punch was the only remedy 
employed, and in many cases it was not unsuc- 
cessful. The Indians were all free from this dis- 
order, which justifies the saying of the mulattoes, 
that, " The Indians are never ill." 

The following day, leaving the banks of the 
Pa'i, I proceeded along those of the Rio de la 
Plata which falls into it ; and before two o'clock 
in the afternoon, arrived in sight of the town of 



262 



TRAVELS IN THE 



that name. We could not immediately enter it on 
account of the bridge of communication not 
being sufficiently commodious for the number of 
persons going to and from la Plata. On each 
side of the river, leather bands are made fast to 
stakes driven in the ground, and upon this tara- 
bita (for thus they call this singular sort of a 
bridge) is placed a piece of wood furnished with 
leather straps, by which the traveller is fastened, 
and according to whichever side he wishes to 
go, he is drawn across. The passage at first 
seems rather alarming, and one cannot, without 
shuddering, find one's self suspended over an abyss 
by a few hide ropes, which are very liable to be 
injured by the rain, and consequently to break ; 
accidents however seldom happen; animals are 
made to swim across. 

When I gained the Plata shore, one of the in- 
habitants came to offer me hospitality, though I 
mistrusted this forwardness, so uncommon among 
the Spaniards, I accepted his invitation with plea- 
sure, on the hint given me by another inhabitant 
that my host had just killed an ox; a circum- 
stance, which in these villages causes the day upon 
which it happens, to be considered as one of 
great importance. In order to arrive at his house, 
I passed through a part of the town, exceeding- 
all I had ever seen in wretchedness ; the greater 
part of the inhabitants whom I met, and who 
were all men of colour, being disfigured by enor- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA 263 

mous goitres; they were besides disgustingly 
dirty, and their ragged coverings afforded no 
concealement to the leprous sores that afflicted 
them. 

I was perfectly satisfied with my host, he 
procured me guides and mules, bought for me 
whatever provisions I might want in crossing the 
solitary deserts of Guanacas.and shewed me many 
attentions. At la Plata I became acquainted 
with a Prussian general who was returning from 
Popayan, with the intention of embarking for 
Europe. — This rencontre in the midst of the de- 
serts of New Grenada, was somewhat singular ; 
at the foot of the Tarabita, in view of those pro- 
digiously high summits where the de la Plata 
derives its source, and where formerly another 
town of that name stood, two inhabitants of the 
old world, as they are called by the Americans, 
experienced some delight in recalling it to their 
recollection. 

I was preparing to take my leave of the alcaid 
to whom I was under some obligations, when I 
was informed that his colleague, who was also 
his debtor, had caused him to be arrested for his 
political opinions, and had thrown him into a 
narrow dungeon. This unfortunate event afflicted 
me very much, yet I was so confident of the jus- 
tice of the cause of the worthy alcaid, that I de- 
parted, not doubting the favourable termination 
of the affair. When I had got half way between 



264 



TRAVELS IN THE 



la Plata and the place where I intended to spend 
the night 3 1 passed near an iron mine* ; the inhabi- 
tants of the neighbourhood derive no advantage 
from it. I henceforth did not quit the banks of 
the Pai. This river gives its name to a jurisdiction 
of eighteen Indian villages situated to the west 
south-west of la Plata. Each village is governed 
by a chief of their own election, and all are un- 
der the controul of a white magistrate who lives 
at Ouila. These Indians are christians and sub- 
jects of the state. They have a particular system 
of municipality which is common to all those 
countries that were formerly called, "Tierras 
de Indias". 

We were surprised by a storm near a cottage 
situated in a place called Cuevas, and were hospi- 
tably received. When our host, who was absent, 
returned, his daughter knelt before him to receive 
his blessing, and when at night she lighted a 
candle, repeated a long prayer, a custom very 
general among the country people. 

The next day we experienced considerable 
difficulty in climbing up a very high mountain, 
which the rains, that had fallen for some days, 
had rendered extremely slippery. It was very late 
before I arrived at Pedregal, an Indian village ; 
all the inhabitants with the exception of the 

* It is a singular circumstance that for ages the Africans 
have worked the iron mines in their country, whilst on the 
other hand, the Indians have made no use of theirs. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



265 



curate had fled. I have already observed that, 
since the breaking out of the war, hospitality had 
become a scourge from which the people saved 
themselves by taking up their abode in inacces- 
sible places ; thus a few years of contention have 
destroyed the work of three centuries. The In- 
dians grown familiar to the yoke, threw it off, and 
returning to the woods, resumed their former 
barbarous manners. 

We followed the course of a river called 
the Ullucos, and when on the top of the moun- 
tains forming its western bank, had a view of 
Santa-Rosa, which, from the whiteness of its 
buildings placed amidst frightful precipices, is 
distinguishable from a great distance, and pro- 
duces a beautiful effect in the perspective. On 
the banks of the Ullucos some manufactories are 
established for the preparation of the salt produced 
from the mine of Segovia, which is close by, but 
the quantity is not sufficient for the consumption 
of the country. 

After having traversed San Franciso, I ar- 
rived at Insa where I spent the night. Inhabi- 
tants were no where to be met with ; a circum- 
stance rendered the more disagreeable by one's 
being tormented by thousands of insects of every 
kind; an annoyance which is not experienced in 
the eastern Cordilleras, where the cold is notwith- 
standing as severe as in the western. 

At Santa-Fe they had given me a terrific 



266 



TRAVELS IN THE 



description of the Guanacas, it was not in the 
least exaggerated. When travelling through the 
Socorro I had imagined that the roads were the 
worst I should ever have to encounter ; but I had 
as yet seen nothing. It is true that, here, they 
did not present the frightful aspect of the rocks 
of Guacha, but the difficulties experienced were 
not the less terrible. To render these mountains 
accessible^ square pieces of wood have been placed 
at equal distances, where the feet of the mules 
slip at every step they take, then, the humidity 
which, for ages has continued to soften this muddy 
ground, has formed a complete marsh in which 
horses sink at the risk of never rising more. 
Every thing concurs to increase the danger, for 
there are numerous springs from which the water 
bursts forth with violence, overthrowing the rude 
labours of the Indians, and rolling down in tor- 
rents, which threaten the traveller with destruc- 
tion. Even at the period when they are driest, 
one is soaked through, the mists in which these 
mountains are enveloped being dissolved into 
drizzling rain which almost freezes the unfortu- 
nate traveller. We arrived quite benumbed with 
cold at the tambo de la Ceja, where we rested no 
longer than was necessary to refresh our mules, as 
we should not find another habitation within two 
days' journey. One of my mules overcome with 
fatigue stopped suddenly in the middle of this 
dreadful road ; and as no time was to be lost, 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



267 



I was obliged, greatly against my inclination, to 
leave the poor animal in this situation, where he 
was destined to become the victim of beasts of 
prey, musquitoes, or cold. 

The rain still continued to fall, and night 
approached ; we were obliged to quicken our 
pace, notwithstanding the fatigues of the day, 
and had just enough twilight to proceed to 
the tambo de los Corales, where two Indian salt 
merchants had already established themselves, 
and were cooking their supper at a fire, which, 
from the wood being constantly wet, they had 
had considerable trouble in lighting. These tam- 
bos are so badly constructed, as to afford but 
little shelter from the inclemency of the weather. 
The government is at no expence in improving 
these miserable asylums, the only ones which the 
traveller meets with in the midst of the stormy 
nights of these elevated regions. The water 
flows in on all sides, and the wood, always 
wet, ignites with difficulty ; thus, after having 
spent the night soaked through, every limb be- 
numbed with cold, and bathed in blood by the 
bites of the mosquitoes, one rises the next day 
in order to cross the terrible Guanacas, without 
having taken any nourishment than that of a few 
bananas, and often without having eaten any 
thing. We experienced all these miseries ; the 
rain did not cease to inundate us, and we pro- 
cured no other warmth than that which our 



268 



TRAVELS IN THE 



mules afforded us, by disputing with us our 
wretched habitation. 

As soon as daylight appeared, our eyes were 
fixed upon the summit of the Guanacas, and my 
experienced guides assured me that we should have 
a fine day, and a pleasant journey. The mules 
were immediately saddled, and we departed with 
the assurance that the paramo would be free from 
storms. The first part of our journey we travel- 
led, as on the preceding evening, through thick 
forests of low trees loaded with water, which de- 
luged us every time our mules touched their 
branches. The road was, perhaps, better than 
before ; for, as it was formed upon rocks, the 
water ran over it without producing any of those 
dangerous marshes we had met with in other 
places. In proportion as we ascended, we ob- 
served the vegetation to be more sickly, and soou 
perceived that we were near the paramo from the 
number of bleached human bones which lay scat- 
tered all around. Perhaps, alas ! they were those 
of the proscribed, who had concealed themselves 
in these frightful retreats during the late wars ; 
one might have supposed it to have been a field 
of battle ; — here, were shoes, there, female cloth- 
ing ; further on the head of an infant indi- 
cated its having died after having lost its mother. 
Our company became serious and silent as we 
advanced into these desolate regions : we were 
all gay in the morning, but now not a word was 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



269 



spoken, and we only looked at each other to see 
whether fatigue did not excite in some of us a 
fatal propensity to sleep, that we might prevent 
its being indulged. We soon after saw nothing 
but a few crooked and stunted trees covered with 
moss, and nearly falling from age: these were 
succeeded by frailecons, whose yellow flowers are 
so brilliant amid the surrounding desolation. 
We were now opposite a lake of small extent. 
The danger is very great, if the passage be at- 
tempted when the tempest agitates it, and an icy 
wind blows, which is fatal to those who yield to 
fatigue or the want of repose. 

Near this fearful spot we recognized the 
garments of a clergyman, and of two black ser- 
vants, who had fallen dead beside him ; and, at 
a short distance, saw many mules, which, aban- 
doned by their masters, were living upon fraile- 
cons, waiting till a tempest should terminate 
their misfortunes by death. We now found the 
ground less stony and much drier, being now 
upon the western side of the Guanacas, The sky 
was cloudy, but without a threatening aspect, 
and we now and then saw the sun as in our 
winters ; his rayless disk scarcely warmed us, 
whilst, at the distance of a day's journey, glow- 
ing with light, he poured torrents of fire on the 
inhabitants of the banks of the Cauca. 

The journey was very long, and it was eight 
in the evening before we arrived at Totoro, where 



270 



TRAVELS IN THE 



the inhabitants speak a peculiar dialect. Upon 
the walls of the house where we passed the night, 
some one had written two verses in French, ex- 
pressive of much anguish, and in perfect keep- 
ing with the aspect of the country from which 
we had just descended. Notwithstanding my 
fatigue of the preceding evening, I had no incli- 
nation to remain at Totoro, for the inhabitants, 
who are all Indians, are reputed to be thieves. I 
therefore set out at day-break, and, upon arriving 
on the heights which command Totoro, per- 
ceived the superb valley of Popayan. As we de- 
scended towards these fertile plains, the heat in- 
creased, and the temperature became more agree- 
able ; we were soon at Panikita. This village is 
inhabited by Indians who speak a language dif- 
ferent from that of the inhabitants of Totoro. In 
spite of the filth and nastiness prevailing in the 
interior of their houses, they have displayed some 
taste and care in the disposition of their streets, 
which are bordered with hedges, while the water 
flows on both sides in covered canals ; the church 
of Panikita is extremely neat. 

Having already obtained a view of Popayan, 
I was very desirous of arriving there ; and, al- 
though the road was variegated by beautiful 
country seats and well-cultivated fields, it ap- 
peared to me long and fatiguing ; besides the 
plain of Popayan, which, from the summit of 
the mountains had appeared to me quite a level 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



271 



surface, was interspersed with elevations, these, 
traversing the road, rendered travelling very dis- 
agreeable. It is a rugged country, like the val- 
ley of Socorro, so level when viewed from the 
heights of the Cordilleras, but so uneven in rea- 
lity. A light bridge of reeds served us to pass 
the Palaca, which runs at a tremendous depth 
between two ridges of rocks that looked as if 
they had formerly been but one. This place was 
not destitute of interest to my guides ; it recal- 
led to their recollection the battle which Narino 
fought here against the Spaniards, and in which 
he was conqueror, notwithstanding his unfavour- 
able position and the small number of his un- 
disciplined troops. 

On each side of the road were elegant 
houses, the opulence of which might be sur- 
mised from the comfortable appearance of their 
negro majordomos, who were mounted on fine 
horses well harnessed. Passing near me, and 
perceiving that I was a foreigner, they took much 
pride in making them prance. At four o'clock, I 
entered the village bearing the name of the Cauca, 
near which it is built ; crossing a brick bridge 
built by the Spaniards, which is tolerably hand- 
some but very narrow, I proceeded along a 
pleasant road in the direction of Popayan, and 
arrived in that town at five o'clock ; accord- 
ing to the custom of the country, I was lodged 
in a shop. 



272 



TRAVELS IN THE 



It is said that the position of Popayan 
seems to have been created by the imagination of 
poets ; and, in fact, it is difficult to find one 
more beautiful : it was selected by Benalcazar, 
who is less known than either Pizarro, Cortez, or 
Quesada, but deserves to be more celebrated, 
as he was the founder of many towns, all delight- 
fully situated. 

The valley of Popayan has not the gigantic 
magnificence of that of Santa-Fe, but the air is 
so pure ; the country fertilized by its vicinity to 
the snowy mountains of Puraca is so rich, and its 
temperature is so mild, that one would be almost 
tempted to give it a preference over the plateau 
of the other Cordilleras, if the number of disgust- 
ing insects, particularly fleas, did not render the 
place almost uninhabitable. 

It is not so easy to draw a comparison be- 
tween the two towns of Popayan and Bogota, as 
each of them possesses advantages highly valua- 
ble, but entirely different. Santa-Fe, though not 
so well built, will perhaps please strangers more, 
merely from its being the capital. The houses of 
Popayan are, however, more handsomely con- 
structed, and there are some that would not dis- 
figure the finest parts of our own cities; the street 
of Belen is particularly remarkable, the houses 
are all one story high, built in a straight line, 
and bordered with well-paved trottoirs ; the 
windows are closed with balconies, and there are 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



27B 



none of those gratings which produce so gloomy 
an effect. 

Some taste is displayed in the architecture 
of their churches ; they have a fault, however, 
in common with all the edifices of Popayan, 
that of the height being too great for the width 
of the building : a defect very unpleasant to the 
eyes of Europeans, who are accustomed to more 
exact proportions. 

The warehouses make not a very gay appear- 
ance, for as there are no markets held here, all 
provisions are sold in the shops, which, in compa- 
rison with the number of the inhabitants, are 
more numerous than at Santa-Fe. 

There are numerous squares, these, how- 
ever, offer nothing worthy of remark ; the greater 
part of the houses surrounding them are falling 
into ruin. Many other proofs may be adduced of 
the decay of Popayan, in which there once re- 
sided many inhabitants, worth a million of dol- 
lars. The excessive sobriety of the inhabitants, 
their dress, and their deportment, show that the 
war has entirely ruined this town, formerly en- 
riched by the commerce of Santa-Fe and Quito, 
of which it was the entrepot, and by the mines of 
gold in the Choco, and on the banks of Cauca, 
which belonged to the inhabitants. There are 
still four families in Popayan, who enjoy a for- 
tune of 400,000 dollars, but this is only the 
wreck of their immense riches, which they con- 

T 



274 



TRAVELS IN THE 



tinue to sacrifice every clay to the republican 
cause they have embraced. 

There is but one convent for men in Po- 
payan, and that belongs to the Franciscans ; the 
other monasteries, to the great regret of the 
inhabitants, have been converted into barracks, 
and their revenues devoted to the foundation 
of a college. These new arrangements have 
greatly displeased the inhabitants, who are very 
partial to the monks ; it is even apprehended, 
that they may occasion an insurrection, as was 
the case at Maracaibo. 

The commerce of Popayan consists of some 
woollen cloths which, on account of the war, 
are obliged to be conveyed by the way of Bar- 
bacoas, or by San-Buenaventura, in order to 
forward them to Quito and Guayaquil ; they also 
trade in European baizes, the salt of Santa-Fe, the 
grain of Pasto, Timana cocoa, and Cali sugar. 

If any credit could be given to what the 
people of Santa-Fe say of those of Popayan, the 
latter would be regarded as rather unsociable. It 
must be acknowledged, that they are haughty in 
their manners, as well as very affected in their con- 
versation ; but, in general, they are more dignified 
than the people of Santa-Fe. In other respects, 
they are more obliging and polite, but extreme- 
ly avaricious ; they are also much reproached for 

* Particularly red, vellow, and green baizes, which are 
sold at 22 reals per vara. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



275 



their negligence, a very natural fault in a peo- 
ple possessing slaves. 

Both men and women have a fine physiog- 
nomy ; they have preserved the solemn deport- 
ment of the Spaniards, together with their fea- 
tures ; many families seem to be of Jewish ori- 
gin. The number of negroes and mulattoes is 
double that of the whites, and the quarrelsome 
disposition of these slaves, almost enfranchised 
by the disorders of the war, causes much uneasi- 
ness to the whites, especially when they reflect 
that, between Pasto and Carthagena, there are 
none but blacks to be met with in the western 
Cordilleras. 

The recent insurrection of the negroes of 
Barbacoas and Patia has caused much alarm at 
Popayan. Would the white population of this 
town be sufficiently strong to arrest the torrent, 
should it rush in upon them ? The whites place 
much reliance upon the help of the Indians, the 
mortal enemies of the negroes ; but their assist- 
ance would be of very little use against such 
strong and brave men, skilful in the manage- 
ment of horses and arms. 

The Indians of Popayan differ very little 
from those of Santa-Fe, except that they are 
darker and not quite so tall ; their costume is 
the same in all respects, except the head-dress, 
called montera ; this consists of a hat similar to 
those of the Chinese mandarins, and is made of 

t 2 



276 



TRAVELS IN THE 



pieces of cloth of different colours. The whites 
follow the fashions of Santa-Fe, but, like all the 
people of the provinces, dress without either art 
or taste. 

The gold mines are abandoned, and scarcely 
support those who still work them ; the convents 
of Carmen and Incarnation, which possess some 
that are very rich*, see the produce daily dimi- 
nish, through the desertion or death of the slaves 
who work them. 

If the secular and regular clergy are not 
rich, the bishop at least is extremely so, his in- 
come being reckoned at 40,000 dollars per 
annum. 

I formed the project, during my stay in this 
town, of visiting the mountain of Purace, whose 
snowy summit overlooks and fertilizes the valley 
of Popayan. In consequence of this resolution, 
I set out on the 14th of October, and proceeded 
eastward ; although the road was dry, and tole- 
rably level, it was late before I arrived on the 
banks of the Vinagra, a river which flows from 
the volcano of Purace, and whose waters are 
almost as sour as vinegar. We then ascended 
the mountain as high as the village of Purace, 
where we were to pass the night ; and as we en- 
tered it, saw a small party of Indians carrying 
ice to Popayan. 

The situation of Purace is very agreeable, 

* See Note X, 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



277 



this village being above the valley of Popayan. 
The inhabitants are frequently incommoded by a 
black dust brought by the north north-west wind, 
which is very cold; but notwithstanding this 
rigorous climate, there is a very high palm-tree 
in the middle of the village. 

The streets and the cottages of Purace are 
arranged very neatly, each house being built in 
the midst of a good-sized inclosure ; facing the 
street is the yard, and behind the house is the gar- 
den, kept with great care, in which maize, wheat, 
potatoes, and apples, are cultivated. The princi- 
pal streets are watered by limpid rivulets, while, 
taking advantage of the slope of the ground, 
every inhabitant has constructed a little fountain 
to supply himself with water always pure. 

The Indians of Purace are of a very mild 
disposition ; their language, like that of Totoro, 
is full of consonants, and consequently very 
harsh ; they are fond of agriculture, to which 
they ardently devote themselves ; the tithes 
they pay their curate amount to 700 dollars a 
year, a sum which enables some idea to be formed 
of their wealth. 

I passed the night at the house of one of the 
inhabitants, who paid me much attention, and 
early the next morning again set out to ascend 
the mountain. In passing the paramos that lie at 
the foot of the snowy regions, I found them less 
dangerous than the Guanacas, a circumstance 



278 



TRAVELS IN THE 



that is owing to their situation with respect to 
the wind, those which I crossed being to wind- 
ward. After having quitted the places where 
the cryptogamous plants, in their diminutive di- 
mensions, have the appearance of large veget- 
ables, and live crowded one upon another as if for 
the sake of mutual warmth, I arrived with my 
guides at the utmost limits of vegetation. Stones 
and gravel form this region where the sun, des- 
titute of power, permits the accumulation of the 
ice; the moment we entered it, a tempest burst 
from the summit, and poured down upon us like 
a torrent. 

The wind, loaded with particles of hail and 
snow, quite benumbed us; we began to breathe 
with difficulty ; and the obscurity was so great, 
that we were obliged to call out from time to 
time to prevent our losing each other. 

The tempest blew in gusts, and when it 
ceased, we distinctly heard the murmurs of the 
volcano, which we had before mistaken for the 
moanings of the birds of night. We now pro- 
ceeded with much difficulty through the thick 
coating of cinders that covered the mountain, 
and over the crevices filled with snow ; but at 
length arrived at the volcano, from which there 
arose a thick smoke spreading a foetid smell 
in every direction. There have doubtless been 
frequent eruptions, if we may judge from the 
volcanic productions spread around on all 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



279 



sides. The aperture of the volcano is frequently 
closed, for the sulphur which it throws up 
adheres to the sides, and so chokes up the en- 
trance, that the vapours escape with great dif- 
ficulty, and earthquakes threatening Popayan 
with destruction, are the immediate conse- 
quence. 

To avoid this danger, Indians are sent from 
time to time to clear the crater, but independently 
of this motive, these men pass their time conti- 
nually upon the mountain in gathering sulphur 
and collecting ice which they sell in the city at 
the rate of two dollars per load. It is said, that, 
upon the western side of the mountain, there is a 
much larger crater, and that but few Indians 
are acquainted with the frightful paths lead- 
ing to it. The Rio Vinagra, which I crossed 
the night before, flows from the openings of this 
mountain, and although its acid waters are very 
dangerous to drink, they are highly valued for 
their utility in dying. 

I was unable to remain upon the moun- 
tain so long as I desired, for my guides were 
alarmed, and threatened to leave me if I stopped 
there any longer, as the storm still raged with 
the utmost fury. Indeed, I must confess that I 
descended with pleasure, for I breathed with so 
much difficulty, that I could ascend no higher 
without great pain. It did not require much 



280 



TRAVELS IN THE 



time to retrace our steps to the village of Pu- 
race ; so that, after crossing many fertile fields,, 
where the corn of Europe is but badly cultivated, 
we reached Popayan at eight o'clock in the even- 
ing. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



281 



CHAPTER XV. 

Departure from Popayan — Mine of AUegrias — Quilichao — The Cauca— Sa- 
mondi — Cali— Departure from Cali— Las Juntas. 

Every thing indicated that the winter season was 
on the eve of setting in : I was very apprehensive 
that it might overtake me in the inundated plains 
of the Cauca, and resolving not to prolong my 
stay at Popayan, hired a guide to conduct me 
to Cali. I should have preferred going to Quito, 
which is peculiarly interesting to a Frenchman, 
because it reminds him of the measurement of 
the first three degrees of the meridian, made by 
several of his learned countrymen.* But I was 
obliged to renounce this pleasure, as the revolt 
of Pasto and of Patia rendered it impossible 
to take that road, without running the risk of 
falling into the hands of the insurgents, the mer- 
ciless enemies of all those who do not embrace 
their cause. 

I therefore took the road to Cali : as in the 
valley of the Magdalena, I saw to the right and 
left, while I traversed that of the Cauca, the Cor- 
dilleras rising majestically, as if to cool and de^ 
fend the country watered by that river. 

* See note XI. 



282 



TRAVELS IN THE 



The valley of the Cauca is composed of two 
plateaus, very distinct by their elevation and their 
temperature : it is much richer than that of the 
Magdalen a, The soil is deep, the pasturages rich 
and fertile, as is proved by the large size of the 
cattle, which, on the contrary, are very lean in 
the valley of the Magdalena, excepting at the 
foot of the Quindiu. The forests too are greener 
and less scorched by the heat of the sun, which 
dries up every thing during the summer in the 
valley of the Magdalena, while along the banks 
of this river, nothing is seen but wretched huts, 
and men covered with rags, and half savage ; the 
banks of the Cauca, afford every where indica- 
tions of opulence. The farm houses are spacious 
and well built, and nearly resemble the wealthy 
habitations of our colonies. The negroes, who 
cultivate the land, are all well clothed and ap- 
pear to have a sufficiency of wholesome food. If 
we still see some huts covered with thatch, and 
some women in tattered garments, we every where 
find utensils of silver, and those very women 
who are so ill clothed are, on holidays, adorned 
with gold necklaces. A general decorum of 
manners prevails ; even the muleteers, proud of 
being whites, are ashamed to go on foot, so that 
it is difficult to distinguish the poor from the 
rich. 

This prosperity and opulence are to be 
ascribed to a fertile soil, better cultivated in 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



283 



many places than on the Magdalena, and to abun- 
dant gold mines, though they are unskilfully 
worked. The earth tinged with red and yellow 
every where indicates the presence of gold : you 
constantly tread it under foot, and as a Spanish 
engineer said, the kennels of the streets, in the 
towns, bring it down after a storm. 

We passed the night at los Corrales. The 
proprietors of this cottage, are very hospitable and 
very religious. At night on going to rest, and 
before they rise in the morning, every body re- 
peats the rosario, a very long prayer, which, in 
many places, is recited with great fervor. 

Accordingly we were awakened before day- 
break, by the singing of the pious men, as had oc- 
curred to me amongst the Mahometans in Africa. 
Continuing our progress to the north, we crossed 
the Quebrada de Tuina. An Indian village 
of that name, is situated in the neighbouring 
mountains. We afterwards passed the Pescador, 
and the Oveja, two pretty deep rivers, over 
which there are bridges ; we then passed the 
mountain of Madomon, behind which, to the 
west, is a gold mine very famous in the country. 

When I reached the mine of Allegrias, I had 
reason for astonishment, on hearing my guide 
enumerate all those towards which he pointed in 
different directions of the compass : to the east, 
Kina, Maion, Dominguillo, Campo, San-Vicente ; 
to the west, Cerro Gordo, Santa-Maria, San- 



284 



TRAVELS IN THE 



Miguel, Portugaleto, Honduras, and an infinite 
number of others, the names of which, I have for- 
gotten. The mine of Allegrias gave me an exact 
idea of the others, and of the works of the mi- 
ners. Some huts inhabited by negroes are scat- 
tered in the midst of groves of bananiers, which is 
their favorite tree. The ground is on all sides open 
and dug up to a small depth, it is intersected 
by small canals, so that the water flows on all 
sides, not as in the delicious valley of Neyva, 
to fertilize the fields but to carry away the earth 
which is afterwards washed in wooden bowls, as 
is practised in Africa. Nothing can be more arid 
than the soil near these mines, the red colour of 
the earth, which indicates its mineral wealth, is 
no sign of fertility. The water being ill con- 
ducted in the canals, spreads on all sides with- 
out improving the soil. 

The view enjoyed from the summit of these 
auriferous hills of the plain of the Cauca, is ad- 
mirable; a palm tree grows at this point, and 
seems to be the limit of the burning soil of the 
Cauca ; though it is not so curious as the palm 
tree of Purace, it is perhaps more striking, for 
one would say, that it was placed by nature as a 
landmark, to indicate the change of the temper- 
ature of Europe to that of Africa. 

At the foot of the plateau of Popayan, is the 
village of Quilichao, in a very advantageous po- 
sition, being at the limits of the hot, temperate 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



285 



and cold districts, which renders it the entrepot 
for the productions of all climates : it likewise 
possesses many gold mines, and is a very flour- 
ishing' place. I went to pass the night farther 
on, at a venta where there were many traders 
on their way to Popayan with mules laden 
with sugar. 

The following day, we entered the marshy 
plains which are periodically inundated by the 
waters of the Cauca and other rivers over- 
grown with rushes and reeds. Leaving Caloto, 
famous for its gold mines to the right, we soon 
after passed before the road to Cartago ; then 
crossing a considerable extent of land belong- 
ing to the inhabitants of Popayan, I found 
the operations of agriculture every where left 
to the slaves. The pride inspired by colour is 
no less great in the valley of Cauca, than in the 
colonies of the Antilles ; it is such that poor peo- 
ple do not cultivate any lands but in the moun- 
tains, where it is too cold to have negroes. At 
some distance, on the right of the road, flows the 
Rio Palo, celebrated in the country for the battle 
fought there by Samanon, which he lost ; his army 
chiefly consisting of Peruvians, was totally rou- 
ted by that of the independents. 

In the direction of Caloto, my guide pointed 
out to me the road to Pitai'on, a hamlet justly 
celebrated for the Peruvian bark gathered in 
the neighbourhood, which is said to be of a much 



286 



TRAVELS IN THE 



superior quality to the bark of Loxa. It is sold 
at two piastres per arroba. Pitaion is two days 
journey from the Balsa ; this habitation furnishes 
much less sugar than formerly, because most of 
the beasts of burden which it employed were 
destroyed in the late wars. It now produces 
only 8 or 9,000 pounds of sugar annually. The 
vessels made use of, are of copper. 

At noon we crossed the river Taula, which 
frequently overflows its banks to a considerable 
distance, where, having passed through a forest 
full of climbing plants or bamboos, we found our- 
selves again on the banks of the Cauca. This 
river flows in a smooth current, and is not very 
wide at this place ; we passed it in a canoe, and 
proceeded on the road to Cali. At three o'olock, 
we were at Jamondi situated in the middle 
of a wood of goyava trees ; we afterwards 
crossed the Jamondi, and it was already night 
when we reached Cali. The town was illumina- 
ted and resounded with musical instruments, 
on account of the installation of the college, the 
foundation of which had been ordered by the 
government. I had much difficulty in obtaining 
a lodging ; the alcaid presided at the fete, and 
it was not till very late, that he could procure me 
a shop, where I passed a very indifferent night. 

The following day we had a great deal of 
rain, but this did not hinder me from visiting the 
town. Its situation on the declivity of the west- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



287 



ern Cordilleras, seemed to me very agreeable. 
It is reported that, in former times, these moun- 
tains were sometimes covered with snow ; but 
at present none is to be seen. Cali is not only 
well situated, both for the enjoyment of life and 
for the climate, which is not excessively hot, but 
also for trade, it being the medium of communi- 
cation between Popayan and the Ocean. This 
intercourse is pretty frequent and important at 
present, on account of the tobacco of Llano- 
Grande, a village between Caloto and Buga 
which is sent to Peru and Panama where it is high- 
ly esteemed.* The streets of Cali are straight, 
and the houses built of brick or of earth white- 
washed, a style of building, which gives an 
appearance of cleanliness not common in the 
eastern Cordilleras. 

They have began to build two churches, the 
architecture of which is remarkable for good 
proportions, and an improved taste ; it really ex- 
cites surprise to meet with temples built with 
so much care, amidst the solitudes of New Gre- 
nada. There are several convents, now deserted ; 
all have been suppressed except that of the Fran- 
ciscans, which contains sixteen monks. 

Though the heat is rather intense at Cali, 
and the cocoa trees which grow there in 

* On the spot it costs two piastres per arroba, at Panama, 
it is sold at six reals per pound. 



288 



TRAVELS IN THE 



abundance indicate a tropical temperature, the 
climate is healthy, and we see none of the de- 
formities which afflict the valley of the Magda- 
lena. I met with only one person that had a goi- 
tre, this was a Frenchwoman from Bayonne, 
who had been settled for many years at Cali, 
and had entirely forgotten the customs and the 
language of her native country. Yet the Spanish 
people are so little used to see strangers, that 
she is known in the. town by the name of La 
Franceza ; she is the widow of an officer in the 
Spanish civil service. 

The number of people of colour is considera- 
ble at Cali; they are peaceable, because they 
hold a rank almost equal to those who call them- 
selves whites ; they are not allowed however to 
go armed. The inhabitants of Cali are rich. The 
situation of the town doubtless constitutes to 
the prosperity they enjoy, yet they envy that of 
Carthago, which affords more real advantages. 
In fact, the latter placed almost at the extre- 
mity of the plains of the Cauca, at the point 
where the two Cordilleras approach, and leave 
only a narrow passage for the waters of the river, 
is the entrepot for the goods for Santa-Fe, which 
arrive by the Quindiu, and those for the Antilles 
or the Ocean which come by way of Novita, 
situated near the Rio San Juan. But the situa- 
tion of Carthago is far from offering the en- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



289 



chanting prospect of Cali. Can we find there, 
waters so pure, so beautiful a river, more noble 
trees, more verdant fields, and a more striking 
prospect than that which the plains of Cauca 
afford at Cali ? 

The necessary arrangements for engaging 
a new guide, and hiring fresh mules, had de- 
tained me six days at Cali. This delay was caused 
by the slowness of the inhabitants of the coun- 
try ; every thing is done by negroes and mulat- 
toes who are naturally indolent in business. I 
left Cali with great joy, though I anticipated the 
hardships and fatigues that awaited me in passing 
the Cordilleras ; I was impatient to reach the port 
where I was to embark. 

Oar first day's journey was short. The roads 
were so narrow and so slippery, that it was diffi- 
cult to proceed; night approached as we de- 
scended into the valley, where a pretty habitation 
has been built ; it is called la Portera ; the source 
of the Dagua is at a small distance from it. 

The next day I proceeded towards the west 
north-west; I travelled in company with some 
negroes who had been taken prisoners in the 
Patia; they had been concerned in an insurrection 
which had menaced Popayan with a dreadful con- 
vulsion, and were being conducted to San-Buena- 
ventura. 

They were bound in a singular manner, their 
u 



290 



TRAVELS IN THE 



hands were fastened on the stomach, with cords 
which passed through a hollow piece of wood 
placed below the chin ; these same cords were 
then strongly fastened round the neck, so that, 
by the slightest attempt to escape, the man 
strangled himself. This kind of manacles is 
said to have been taken from the Indians. Not- 
withstanding the terrible constraint which these 
negroes must have felt in walking, they kept 
pace with us who were on horseback. 

We halted together at a place called Papaia- 
guero ; leaving this hamlet, we continued to tra- 
verse the narrow valley watered by the Dagua, 
which we had to cross seven times before we 
reached a farm which bears the same name. 

So far we had met with few hills that were 
difficult to pass ; the ground was rather uneven 
than mountainous, and notwithstanding the small 
number of inhabitants that we met with, the 
road had appeared to me less fatiguing than any 
of those I had before traversed in other moun- 
tains. Quitting the farm of Dagua the ascent was 
very laborious till we reached some houses called 
las Ojas ; this was nothing, after having given our 
mules some rest, we penetrated into very thick 
woods, and continued climbing the Cordilleras 
till two o'clock in the afternoon, when we arrived 
at las Juntas. 

The road of las Juntas, is one of the most abo- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



291 



minable in the republic of Colombia, the ground 
sinking in under the feet of the mules, (for the 
communications are frequent between the great 
Ocean and the valley of the Cauca) has left on 
the right and left considerable elevations so well 
shaded by the foliage of the trees, that they can- 
not be discerned, it is like penetrating into a 
cavern ; there is only room enough for one mule, 
and this is so narrow, that I was obliged every 
moment to cross my legs in my saddle for fear of 
breaking them against the stones. Before we 
descended into these denies, my guide cried out in 
a loud voice several times, and when he was quite 
certain that nobody was coming from the op- 
posite side, we entered the pass, it was then our 
fatigues and our dangers commenced; for the 
whole place was full of water, and there were, on 
all sides, what the Spaniards call cajones, holes in 
which our mules sunk up to the breast. As they had 
not room for more than half their body, they were 
often obliged to stride over these cavities filled 
with mud and branches of trees, which they did 
with much agility ; thus we arrived without ac- 
cident at las Juntas. 

This village is situated on an isthmus, water- 
ed on one side by the Dagua, and on the other by 
the Pepita, which unite at this place. Las Jun- 
tas is inhabited by merchants of Cali ; the ac- 
tivity of these men in the western Cordillera, may 

u 2 



292 



TRAVELS IN THE 



be compared to that of the inhabitants of So- 
corro in the eastern. The inhabitants of las Jun- 
tas are much distressed by want of provisions ; 
they are of course not numerous ; the pecuniary 
temptations held out by the salt and gold trade 
induce them to remain in this dreadful place, 
which they cannot quit without entering path- 
less forests. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



293 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Dangerous navigation of the Dagua — San-Buenaventura — Description of 
the province of Choco — Departure from San-Buenaventura on board a 
Peruvian schooner — Arrival at Panama — Observations on the great 
Ocean. 

The day after my arrival at las Juntas, I prepared 
to embark on the Dagua, though its waters had 
been considerably swelled by a storm, which 
raged during the night : but I wished to arrive 
speedily at San-Buenaventura, and was, besides, 
unacquainted with the dangers the people spoke 
of ; I thought they wished to alarm me, in order 
to dissuade me from my purpose, and detain me 
the longer among them. 

I was furnished with two negroes reputed 
to be excellent sailors, and a long narrow canoe. 
In order to preserve the equilibrium, my bag- 
gage was divided into two parts, an equal 
weight being placed at each end ; three feet in 
the centre were appropriated to receive my body 
bent almost in two ; my two negroes, one pro- 
vided with an oar, the other with a pole, were 
stationed at each end of the canoe ; when all 
was ready and duly adjusted, the rope which 
moored us to the beach was loosened, and imme- 



294 



TRAVELS IN THE 



diately, we were hurried on by the stream with 
the rapidity of an arrow, and carried before a 
wall, over which the waters passed with a fright- 
ful noise. Which way shall we pass ? was the 
thought that struck me at the sight of so terri- 
ble an obstacle : quicker than thought, the bark, 
skilfully guided between a very narrow opening, 
glided into calmer water : having escaped one 
danger we encountered another,having to descend 
from the high mountains of las Juntas, into the 
plains, which are washed by the Ocean ; and 
when I thought the Dagua had reached its level, 
I perceived its agitated waters flowing several 
feet below the place where I was. 

The negro with the pole, like a skilful pilot 
dexterously avoided the current of the river 
where it was too rapid, entered boldly among 
the windings of the rocks, and without fearing to 
dash the canoe to pieces, conducted it through 
those narrow issues : sometimes, however, a 
stone baffled his address, and stopped us on the 
edge of a fall ; the water, foaming against this 
new obstacle, threatened to swamp us ; this 
was the critical moment : the two men then 
leaped into the water, and thus lightening the 
canoe, held it with all their strength to hinder it 
from being ingulphed by the water among pre- 
cipices where it would have perished. 

Dangers of so novel a nature of course alarm 
the traveller. Imprisoned in the middle of the 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 295 

canoe, and motionless for fear of upsetting it, 
he mechanically sighs with pleasure after having 
passed over a shoal, or descended a rapid ; this 
sometimes happened to myself. The negroes, 
mistaking the expression of joy, for a sigh of 
complaint, asked with the most laughable sang- 
froid, " Are you wet, sir ?" In truth I was wet 
through. The rain fell in torrents, and the sai- 
lor, while intent upon avoiding the rocks, which 
every where obstruct the passage, was constantly 
striking his feet against each other to throw out 
the water which filled the canoe. 

We were one hour in reaching the place 
called the Salto, where there is so great a fall, 
that the canoes are conveyed over land, and are 
changed at the Bodega (or public warehouse), 
where the government has placed an agent to 
superintend the police of the river. My negroes, 
after landing my effects, amidst torrents of rain, 
were going to leave me, pretending they had not 
agreed to accompany me any further. I was 
cruelly embarrassed ; for if I had been left in 
these forests, I should have perished with hun- 
ger or disease, while waiting for another boat : 
the white who had the care of the Bodega, took 
pity on my situation, and, joining with me, per- 
suaded the sailors to accompany me farther. I 
employed other means to induce them. I had 
given them four piastres, though they could only 
demand two for the first passage, and promised 



296 



TRAVELS IN THE 



them three more for the second ; this was paying 
double what other travellers give. They gladly 
accepted my offer, and immediately launched 
another canoe. 

Without authority, or rather fearing to em- 
ploy that with which they are invested, the agents 
of the Colombian government are rarely of any ser- 
vice in protecting the traveller, especially a fo- 
reigner : it is only by means of exhortations or 
money that he can make himself obeyed ; for, 
being the only guides amidst the dangers of the 
navigation or the roads, the sailors and muleteers 
are respected by all the officers of government, 
who, being generally engaged in trade, are afraid 
of suffering for their rigour if they executed 
the laws. When the roads become better, and 
the navigation more perfectly known, these men 
will be less extortionate, and will be made to 
obey. 

My negroes having resolved to accompany 
me, I embarked in another canoe, and launched 
again into dangers no less terrible than those 
which we had just escaped. Encouraged, how- 
ever, by the repeated proofs of the dexterity of 
the negroes, the traveller begins to familiarize 
himself with so frightful a navigation ; he is 
at length able to distinguish the rocks which 
are really dangerous, from those which are alarm- 
ing only from the noise produced by the waves 
of the river breaking over them ; but I doubt whe- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



297 



ther he can, at any time, feel himself so secure as 
to be able to sleep, as many persons have assured 
me they could do ; for one is involuntary agitated 
or uneasy ; and, were it only from the effect of 
the rapidity with which the canoe proceeds, the 
passenger has his eyes constantly open. 

In a short time we arrived at the Saltico. 
Near this dangerous place we found some huts ; 
it cost me many hours to persuade my inconstant 
sailors to take me any farther ; they hesitated a 
long time, and at last yielded to my offer of 
five piastres, if they would take me to San-Bue- 
naventura ; and, after having again changed our 
canoe, we set off. I went on foot, as I had done 
at the Salto, as far as the other side of the fall. 
There I met my negroes and my canoe. An idea 
may be formed of this navigation, when I say 
that, on the beach where I walked, I observed 
long furrows traced by the canoes, which are 
kept as close the shore as possible. 

After passing the Saltico, the Dagua, less 
violent, does not rush forward in an impetuous 
torrent ; it is now only an extremely rapid river, 
yet still very dangerous, because it is far from 
having attained its level : the fall being only 
one foot instead of three which it had been higher 
up. 

The negro who held the pole, no longer di- 
rected his comrade with the alarming silence 
he before preserved, which, however, was neces- 



298 



TRAVELS IN THE 



sary not to lose any time ; it was not mere- 
ly by signs that he guided the steersman, his 
voice was louder than the roaring of the waters ; 
we were soon able to converse on the dangers we 
had incurred, and the pleasure of quickly reach- 
ing the port ; before we got there, we stopped at 
a hamlet, at Santa-Cruz, where I passed the night. 

On the following day, a pure sky, which is 
very uncommon in the rainy climate of this 
country, promised us a fine day, and the river 
being broader, contributed to render this last 
part of our voyage very agreeable. If the trunks 
of the trees under water, still exposed us to some 
risks, the bed of the Dagua, which was broad 
and deep, enabled us to avoid them : at length, 
after having again glided along with rapidity for 
some time, our canoe could not proceed without 
the aid of the oar. 

We had now, therefore, need of vigorous 
exertion to descend this river, the current of 
which hurried us along the day before, in spite 
of all our efforts. As it approaches its mouth it 
has attained its level. Its deep and muddy 
waters have now only low and marshy banks, 
which they constantly inundate, and on which 
grow trees of a large size. It is there that 
the mangrove and other large trees, which are 
fond of brackish water, spread afar their nu- 
merous roots. The Dagua, which, higher up, 
when it was confined in a narrow channel be- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



299 



tween the steep walls of the Cordilleras, flowed 
precipitating itself from fall to fall, has an almost 
imperceptible current ; it is as calm as the sea 
which receives it. Their waters unite unobserved, 
for there is no bar to impede them, and a navi- 
gator does not perceive that he has entered the 
sea except by the taste of the waters. Contrary 
to all observation, the crocodile does not shew 
itself in the river, and delights only in the ocean, 
upon whose sandy banks this terrible animal is 
sometimes met with. 

We at length arrived without danger, but 
not without difficulty at San-Buenaventura. 

Considering the importance and beauty of 
its situation, San-Buenaventura ought to be a 
considerable town ; an active commerce should 
animate its port ; a rich and industrious popula- 
tion fill its streets ; lastly, it should be frequented 
by numerous vessels. Nothing of all this is to be 
seen. A dozen huts inhabited by negroes and mu- 
lattoes, a barrack with eleven soldiers, a battery 
of three pieces of cannon, the residence of the 
governor, built like the custom-house, of straw 
and bamboo, on a small island called Kascakral, 
covered with grass, brambles, mud, serpents and 
toads ; such is San-Buenaventura ! 

Yet the commerce carried on is not with- 
out importance, though chiefly of very common 
articles, for instance salt,* onions and garlick. 

* The salt of Pa'ita, costs one piastre per quintal. 



300 



TRAVELS IN THE 



These in general are the only cargoes brought 
by the schooners from Paita. To these must be 
added straw hats and hammocks from Xipixapa, 
singular importations into a province so rich in 
gold. The exportations consist of rum, sugar and 
tobacco.* This unwholesome place suffers a con- 
tinual scarcity of provisions, it is difficult to 
procure green bananas, or bread made of maize 
and cheese. Fowls cost a piastre a piece, and 
can hardly be obtained even at that price ; fish 
is scarce, and said to be injurious to the health. 

San-Buenaventura therefore is, at present, a 
village of no importance, but may rapidly increase 
in time, if, conformably to a plan which has been 
recently suggested, it be removed to the north 
north-east of its present site. The place where 
it is proposed to make the new port, being rather 
elevated, is consequently drier. As it is on the 
continent, there will be an opportunity to extend 
it, and it will be easy to employ more solid ma- 
terials than bamboo. The houses built there 
being better secured than with leather, will offer 
greater security to the merchant ; lastly, there 
will be no reason to apprehend that excessive 
dampness so fatal to strangers who reside at 
Kascakral. Thus this port may one day hold 
a considerable rank among those on the great 

* Vessels also come from Costa-Ricca with cargoes of salt 
meat ; it costs eight piastres per quintal, and causes the dyssen- 
tery ? 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



301 



Ocean. Instead of the canoes which now con- 
stitute its marine, we shall see large vessels ; 
and its filthy huts will be superseded by rich ma- 
gazines containing the produce of India and Eu- 
rope. 

Every inlet of the waters of the great Ocean is 
said to be a good port, in fact this sea is so rarely 
agitated by storms between the tropics along the 
coast of America, that vessels are safe in all 
places that are a little sheltered. To this ad- 
vantage, common to all the creeks on this coast, 
the bay of San-Buenaventura joins a considerable 
extent and depth of water. The bottom is ex- 
cellent, and ships of war can enter and remain 
at anchor without danger. The entrance is to 
the west south-west of Kascakral, whereas the 
mouth of the Dagua is to the south-east of the 
same point. This is not the only river which 
empties itself into it. 

The port of San-Buenaventura depends on 
Choco, a very interesting but imperfectly known 
province of New Grenada. This country begins 
at the gulph of Mexico, borders the north-west 
upon the territory of the barbarous hordes who 
live three days' journey from Panama, comprising 
a part of the eastern Cordilleras, is bounded to the 
west by the great Ocean, and terminates on the 
south at Escuande, situated to the south south- 
east of the Gorgona, two days journey from San- 
Buenaventura. 



302 



TRAVELS IN THE 



As Holland has been able by artificial means 
to make all its provinces communicate by water, 
so Choco is full of natural canals, which afford 
convenient means of intercourse between the gulph 
of Mexico and the great Ocean ; to render them 
the more easy, it would be sufficient to cut through 
the isthmus of San-Pablo ; then one might go 
from San -Buenaventura to la Quebrada de San- 
Joachim, which may be ascended in five hours; 
two hours are sufficient to cross by land, the 
space between San-Joachin and the Guineo, which 
empties itself into the Calima. You descend this 
river till it falls into the San-Juan ; thence it 
takes one day to the Monguido ; from the Mon- 
guido to Panama, one day ; from Panama to Noa- 
namon, one day ; from Noanamon to la Boca de 
Dispurdu del Goasimon, one day ; from Dispur- 
du to la Boca de Tamana, one day ; from la Bo- 
ca to Novita, six hours ; from Novita to la Boca 
San-Pablo, one day; the isthmus of San-Pablo is 
traversed in four hours ; on the other side at San- 
Pablito, you embark on the Rio-Quito, reach in 
one day la Boca Certiga, and in another day, from 
Citara to the Atrato : from Citara to the mouth 
of the river, it is hundred and thirty-four leagues. 
In fifteen days therefore one may go from one ex- 
tremity of the province to the other, or from the 
Escuande, to the mouth of the Atrato. # 

This large proportion of water, so advanta- 

* Vide note XII. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



303 



geous to commercial Intercourse, causes through- 
out the country a too great humidity, which the 
nature of the soil contributes to maintain. In 
fact from the sea-coast to the Cordilleras, Choco 
forms but one plain, which, in its greatest extent, 
may be about thirty leagues, is very low and co- 
vered with impenetrable forests ; the west north- 
west wind which daily blows on these coasts, vio- 
lently impels the clouds against the mountains, 
where they accumulate, break, and daily pour 
down torrents of rain which supply the infinite 
numbers of rivers with which the country is in- 
tersected in all directions. It would therefore 
be very difficult, without considerable expense to 
have good roads ; in this respect, the nature of 
the country has been favorable to the Spanish po- 
licy which dreaded, in the highest degree, all con- 
nexion between the countries of the interior, and 
the great Ocean ; even now it is attended with 
the greatest difficulty. 

The continual humidity which prevails in 
Choco, renders the climate, notwithstanding its 
latitude, very supportable, and at the same time 
very unhealthy ; the heat is tempered in this 
marshy country, but on the other hand, as 
nothing can become dry there, the strongest 
constitution is undermined ; all Europeans fall 
ill. The sun is not often seen, being almost con- 
stantly obscured by clouds ; sometimes however, 
when it approaches the horizon, it shines with 



304 



TRAVELS IN THE 



extraordinary splendor, and seems by the purple 
and golden tints with which it adorns the sky, 
destined to console this country so aboundant 
in treasures, and so seldom enlivened by a fine 
day. 

The soil of Choco has no variety ; no rocks 
are seen except in the beds of rivers ; the lands 
near the mountains are rich ; we remark how- 
ever but little cultivation ; that which has been 
here and there attempted, has produced such 
abundant crops as should be an inducement 
to extend it. The soil is in general of a very 
bright red colour, it consists of undulating 
vallies which contain very fine pastures ; the 
mountains, which surround them, are clothed with 
forests, into which man has never yet penetra- 
ted. There is a covering of gravel, sand, stones, 
and clay parallel to the horizon and confined 
within narrow limits. It begins at a 100 varas* 
above the level of the sea, and terminates at 800. 
It is there that gold is found, always mixed with 
platina ; beyond this point no metal is disco- 
vered. Thus not only the surface of Choco pos- 
sesses the richest forests, but the most precious 
and abundant treasures are extracted from its 
bosom ; gold is found wherever it is dug for, if 
care be taken not to go beyond the limits here 
pointed out. 

In the midst of all these riches, man is poor 

* About 259 French feet. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



305 



and miserable, it is only on the eminences which 
are met with from time to time on the banks of 
the rivers that he has built his dwellings raising 
it upon pillars : the beams and the floors which 
compose it, and the roof which covers it are all of 
bamboos. 

It is impossible to grow culinary vegetables 
in the natural soil, because the humidity would 
destroy them ; they therefore erect a flooring of 
bamboo several feet above the ground, which they 
cover with a thick layer of earth ; thanks to this 
precaution, the vegetables they sow thrive very 
well. The same means are not necessary for 
the maize, sugar-cane and bananas ; these plants 
thrive remarkably well in these marshy countries; 
they might be grown in abundance if the con- 
stant dampness of the soil did not hinder the in- 
habitants from burning the forests which cover 
it, and from clearing a large extent of ground for 
cultivation. For the same reason, pastures are 
rare ; we therefore see but few cattle : while on the 
bank of the eastern Cordilleras, no value is at- 
tached to this kind of property, the inhabitants 
of Choco attempt in vain to increase the num- 
ber of their domestic animals. 

Thus the inhabitants of Choco have not, 
like those of the Magdalena, fine days to console 
them in their poverty ; the rain daily inundates 
their retreats, and cover with mud the spot they 
occupy ; their canoe is perhaps the most healthy, if 

x 



306 TRAVELS IN THE 

it be not the driest place where they can live, and 
they accordingly pass all their time in it. Their 
huts are uninhabitable sties, and when they ascend 
by means of a beam of wood rudely cut into steps, 
to the chamber where they sleep, the slight roof 
is no defence against the rain which every where 
penetrates. The inhabitants of Choco, are there- 
fore very miserable, and it is very difficult for 
the population to increase in this country. It 
does not now amount to more than twenty thou- 
sand souls, and yet the province is nearly a hun- 
dred leagues in extent. The number of villages, 
if we may call by that name two or three huts, 
collected in one spot, is very limited. They are 
inhabited for the most part by negroes, people 
of colour and some Indians. The latter, though 
very mild, are still little better than savages. 
They are entirely naked ; the women wear only 
an apron. They paint themselves of divers co- 
lours ; this they say is a dress which clothes 
them. It is remarked, that the men prefer red, 
and the women black. They make in their ears 
large holes, in which they put bones, reeds or 
feathers. They blacken their teeth. These peo- 
ple are not brave ; they fly into the woods if a 
stranger enters their villages. The women weep 
and hide their faces with their hands, Avhen spo- 
ken to. The Indians have a violent antipathy to 
the negroes, and yet out of fear, give them, as 
they do the whites, the title of Amo (master.) 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 307 

The men in general are better made than the wo- 
men ; their features are more regular, and change 
less with time. The industry of these Indians 
is confined to the weaving of baskets or the 
manufacture of straw hats. Like all men of 
their race they do not love the whites, fear them 
greatly and never seek to form alliances with 
them. 

The language of the Indians of Choco is 
remarkable for the harshness and roughness of 
the pronunciation. By questioning these people 
we can learn what things they possessed before 
the arrival of the Spaniards ; for they have in 
general adopted the Castilian names for hor- 
ses, cows, wheat, &c, while maize, sugar-cane 
and potatoes, have proper names in the language 
of these Indians. # 

The blacks predominate in Choco. Almost 
all the negroes are slaves and work in the mines. 
The number of mulattoes is inconsiderable ; they 
here constitute the patrician class and are almost 
all proprietors of mines. 

Independent of gold and platina-f- this coun- 
try might export a considerable quantity of va- 
luable wood, resins, gums, tortoiseshell and pearls 
from the Gorgona. The dearness of provisions, 
the difficulty of collecting the productions, the 
bad condition of the towns and the ports, the 

* Vide Note XIV. 

f Platina is sold at three or four piastres per pound. 

x2 



308 



TRAVELS IN THE 



insalubrity of the air, which even obliges the 
government to increase the salaries of its officers 
one third j will long deter merchants from resort- 
ing to it. A good road from the sea to the valley 
of the Cauca is particularly necessary ; all those 
which have been made are very bad. The ports 
which are at present the most frequented, are upon 
the great Ocean, namely Escuande, el Varo, San- 
Buenaventura, Chirambira, and Cupica ; on the 
gulph of Mexico, all the intercourse is carried on 
by the Atrato. Vessels of any considerable bur- 
den remain at the mouth of this river, where 
they generally are able to negociate with the 
captain who guards the entrance. They agree 
with him for the purchase of tortoiseshell ; the 
English commonly prefer to treat with the Cuna- 
cunas whose ignorance they easily deceive. In ge- 
neral, therefore, only the Champans of Carthagena 
are seen at Citara, a port of the Atrato and 
chief town of the northern part of the province. 
There are not a thousand inhabitants at Citara. 

I found three Frenchmen at Kascakral. 
It will be easy to conceive the surprise and 
joy we mutually experienced on meeting at so 
great a distance from our native country. My 
companions had been by no means successful 
in business. After having engaged a passage on 
board a ship of Guayaquil, they took leave of 
me, and I was left alone The pleasure which 
I felt at meeting with these Frenchmen, in a 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



309 



place where I was so far from expecting it, 
greatly increased my desire of seeing my 
country again. At first fortune did not fa- 
vour my impatience. There was in the port 
only one vessel, a schooner from Pai'ta which was 
bound for Panama : though I had heard a great 
deal of the inconveniences to which passengers 
are subject, I did not hesitate to take a passage 
in it, for which I agreed to pay forty-five piastres. 

The cargo of this vessel consisted of onions 
and salt. The delay in the sale of these articles 
impeded our departure. The vexation which 
this delay gave me, the privations I endured, 
and the kind of famine I had suffered ever 
since I left Cali, brought on an inflammatory 
fever ; I thought for some moments that I should 
never leave Kascakral, but my constitution resist- 
ed the disease- I soon recovered, and was able, on 
the 4th of November, to go on board. All our 
provisions consisted of some yards of dried 
meat. 

I was lodged in the store room ; this was the 
cabin. The rain setting in during the night, the 
crew took shelter in it, and then closed all the 
openings. I was stifned ; the heat, the offensive 
exhalations from thegarlick, the onions, the bacon 
and the dirty clothes of the sailors prevented me 
from sleeping ; however, thinking to set sail the 
same night I did not complain. 



310 



TRAVELS IN THE 



My expectation was deceived, the captain 
did not return on board till day-break, when 
they prepared to set sail. I came out of the 
filthy hole in which I had passed so wretched a 
night. To my great surprise I found on deck 
seven sailors, eight passengers, and the three 
negroes of Pa'fta with whom I had travelled to 
las Juntas. The captain took the speaking trum- 
pet and gave the word of command, with the 
coolness and importance which skill and ex- 
perience inspire. Every body worked, but with 
so little dexterity that it took much time before 
we could get out to sea, though among the sai- 
lors there were two Genoese. It could not fail to 
excite surprise to see two men of the country of 
Colombus in the pay of an Indian captain. This 
man, notwithstanding the arrogance with which 
he gave himself out for a Spaniard, had no fea- 
ture which could, in this respect, impose upon a 
European ; he was fat, of very low stature, had 
a square countenance and tanned complexion ; 
his small eyes placed obliquely, his long hair brai- 
ded on the top of the head after the manner of 
the Chinese, fully justified the title of Chinos, 
Chinese, which is given to the inhabitants of 
Pai'ta*. May we not suppose that, after that 

* Some years ago San Martin made the soldiers of Paita 
have their hair cut ; this measure met^with strong opposition. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



311 



town had been burnt by Anson, the Spaniards 
repeopled it with Chinese from Manilla ? 

At last we set sail, and doubled the sand 
bank to the left of the bay, and the two insulated 
rocks which terminate it; on the right. My Pe- 
ruvians had given me a very poor proof of their 
ability, and I much feared lest their imprudence 
should cost me dear ; but I soon gave up my bad 
opinion of them when I saw them boldly launch 
into the open sea, and in spite of their cotton 
sails, the cordage which was quite chafed, and the 
heavy and unmanageable sails of the schooner, 
steer off from the coast, and, without any 
other guide then the compass and some points 
the position of which is perfectly known to them, 
navigate without sextant, and without a log, 
pass near the pearl island, and arrive at Panama 
without any accident. 

I must confess however, that I was not always 
without uneasiness, respecting their experience, 
though, on the other hand, I was tranquillized by 
the calmness of the sea. The sailors of the great 
Ocean are so timid that, on the least agitation of 
the waves, mine began to sing hymns; this 
seemed to presage great dangers ; every morning 
and evening they assembled to invoke the pro- 
tection of the Saints, whose existence the captain 
afterwards had the boldness and impiety to deny 
when the winds grew calm, and we approached 
near to Panama. 



312 



TRAVELS IN THE 



We cast anchor in the roads of this town on 
the 12th of November, after a voyage of eight 
days. Though it was night, and I was exhausted 
by several days fasting and fever, I went on shore. 
I found a room, a bad supper and a hammock ; 
but I enjoyed during a few moments reflection, 
which preceded my sleep, the inexpressible plea- 
sure of being on land, far from the pestilential 
exhalations of the vessel of Paita, from the 
brutal savages on board it, and from all the 
hardships that are experienced at sea, and which 
I had felt to their fullest extent in my passage 
from San-Buenaventura to Panama. 

The great Ocean, between the tropics, enjoys 
like the Cordilleras, a temperature which is 
almost constantly the same. The air is calm, and 
but seldom agitated by the dreadful storms which 
ravage the gulph of Mexico*. As in the Cordillera, 
the atmosphere is cooled by two general winds 
or monsoons. Thus the wishes of the navigators 
on this Ocean, like those of the cultivator in the 
Andes, are seldom disappointed ; his only cause of 
complaint is that he is sometimes detained in his 
course by the want of wind. Between the tro- 
pic of Cancer and the line, the winds blow from 
November to April from the north and are rainy; 
during the other six, when they come from the 

* The establishment of steam boats would be very easy 
and advantageous on the great Ocean, in a few years the Eng- 
lish will have them between Lima and Panama. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



313 



south, they are dry. This order is sometimes in- 
terrupted by west winds or by easterly breezes, 
which are at times pretty violent before the isth- 
mus of Panama. These exceptions do not how- 
ever destroy the influence which the Cordillera 
has upon the great Ocean, and which is said to 
be perceptible two hundred leagues from the 
continent. Two main currents have been observ- 
ed ; as well as the tides they are very strong. 

The sky in these seas has neither the azure of 
that of the Canaries, nor the ashy whiteness of 
that on the coasts of the Zahara ; it rather re- 
sembles that of our western maritime provinces. 
In proportion as the Cordilleras approach the 
sea the sky is less sombre ; near Panama it has 
only some scattered clouds ; from Pai'ta to Lima it 
is dry, fogs take the place of the rains which 
fall periodically between Guayaquil and la Vera- 
gua. The great Ocean is almost solitary between 
Lima and Mexico; but few ships are met with. 
The commerce is confined to six principal ports : 
Valparaiso, (Chili), Callao, (Peru), Guayaquil, 
and Panama, (Colombia), San-Bias, and Acapulco, 
(Mexico.) A small number only of English, 
French, Genoese, and north Americans go higher 
than Guayaquil. The English of Jamaica, who 
have the monopoly of the trade of the isthmus of 
Panama, are said to send merchandize to the va- 
lue of two millions of piastres. They employ a 
ship of war to protect the small vessels used in 



314 



TRAVELS IN THE 



this trade : they take great care to send them at 
different times, that there may not be any glut at 
Panama, and consequently a decline in the prices. 
The returns from Mexico, by this channel, consist 
of silver ; those from Guayaquil of gold and 
cocoa. 

The ships of Pai'ta alone carry on the coast- 
ing- trade. This port of Peru, which has been 
burnt at two distant periods by two Englishmen, 
Anson in 1741, and Cochrane in 1810, contains a 
population of very active Indian half whites. They 
are the Bretons of the great Ocean, and are 
met with every where. The cargoes they take, 
and which are sufficient to maintain the inter- 
course between Panama, Guayaquil and Peru, 
consist of wine of Lambaike*, salt, onions, gar- 
lick and scullions. The price of these articles 
like that of the macaw of Cuba at Carthagena, 
occupies much more attention than that of gold 
and pearls. Thus Holland founded its wealth on 
the herring fishery ; but Paita is very far from 
that point. 

Guayaquil is, at present, the most important 
port in the great Ocean : numerous vessels are 
attracted there by the quantity of goods collected 
which consist of cocoa, coffee, wood of all kinds 
and cocoa-nuts. This latter article, though oflittle 
value, is in great request : in general the fortune 



* A town of Peru. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



315 



of nations has been founded on the sale of the 
commonest articles. Ships seldom put into Bue- 
naventura or Panama ; there nothing is to be had, 
and here there is only a transit trade which is 
entirely in the hands of the English. In con- 
sequence, if they do not return from Guayaquil 
to Europe, they prefer employing two months to 
go as high as San-Bias to sell mercury and other 
goods receiving ingots in return. Though the 
ships fitted out in the great Ocean are not nu- 
merous, yet the trade in iron, tar and cordage 
is not inconsiderable ; iron is sold at 10 piastres, 
cordage 16, and tar from 8 to 10 piastres per 
quintal. 

Provisions are scarce and dear in all the 
ports : no dependence can now be placed on the 
kind hospitality of the inhabitants of the Cor- 
dilleras, every thing is sold and at a high price; 
services, attention, every thing must be paid for : 
in consequence of the increased connexion of 
these countries with Europe, who knows how high 
they will rise ? The people who inhabit the coast 
of the great Ocean from Lima as far as Panama, 
have an Asiatic physiognomy and habits ; they 
are greedy and self-interested, and have entirely 
retained the moral and physical character of their 
antient fellow citizens of the Philippines. 



316 



TRAVELS IN THE 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Description of the town of Panama- — The women of Colombia, 

Guayaquil is built of wood, Buenaventura of 
straw ; Panama has retained something of both 
these kinds of architecture ; at first sight, how- 
ever, this town pleases the European ; he sees 
houses of three stories, inhabited by several fa- 
milies ; consequently, as in his own country, noise 
and bustle. 

To these features of resemblance, which first 
strike him, must be added others that are less 
agreeable, especially excessive uncleanliness, in- 
creased by that carelessness, which is natural in 
a warm country, and among^a people of Spanish 
origin. At Carthagena there is not a single chair, 
here the houses are crow r ded with furniture ; 
fowls and pigeons enter every where, w T hile, in 
the court yard, the pigs live on all the filth which 
is thrown out of the windows ; this being only 
means the inhabitants have yet found of getting 
rid of it. 

The streets are narrow, and much darker 
than those of Carthagena, and even much dir- 
tier ; at night they are sufficiently lighted by 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



317 



the shops, where the tradespeople endeavour to 
introduce a degree of order and neatness, which 
shews their frequentintercourse with the English. 
The magazines of provisions, in particular, are 
better arranged than those of the towns of the 
interior ; they contain many articles of the United 
States, and a great quantity of wines and liquors 
of all kinds. There is a coffee house at Panama, 
where nothing but coffee is sold : it is much drunk 
in the towns of the great Ocean, and begins to 
supercede chocolate. 

Panama is divided into the upper and lower 
town ; this latter part is called el Varal, it is the 
most populous ; nothing but men of colour are 
met with here, though they are admitted into so- 
ciety, and though all kind of respect is affected 
towards them, yet, at a ball which took place 
a little before my arrival, the whitest ladies re- 
fused to dance with the black officers of the gar- 
rison ; it required all the authority of their hus- 
bands to oblige them. 

Panama has, in fact, no port ; we saw 
neither quay, bason, nor dock. Near the land- 
ing place, is a flight of steps leading to a dark 
passage where the market is kept. The roadjs are 
very bad on account of the north winds, which 
are sometimes very violent. 

Panama is built on a peninsula, so that, 
being surrounded by water on almost every side, 
the air is unwholesome, and epidemic disorders 



318 



TRAVELS IN THE 



frequent : the heat is very severe, and the rains 
are of long continuance. The inhabitants of Pa- 
nama have often had to repulse the attacks of the 
Indians ; at present they enjoy profound peace. 
The Indians have retired into their mountains, 
situated at four days' journey from the capital, 
and never leave them except for the purposes of 
barter. They are believed to be cannibals, and 
for this reason, people are afraid to approach 
cape Garachine, whither they sometimes resort. 
On several occasions, however, government cou- 
riers have been sent by the way of Darien ; though 
they have never been attacked, the roads are so 
bad, that it is thought better to follow the old 
way opened by the Spaniards, by the great Ocean, 
between Panama and the capital. But, instead 
of going to Cupica, they now go to San-Buena- 
ventura. This service is very indifferently per- 
formed. 

The men and women dress in the English 
fashion. The latter go bareheaded, and let their 
hair fall in tresses on their shoulders. In gene- 
ral there is more elegance in the costume at Car- 
thagena, and more originality at Santa-Fe. The 
women of the lower classes have retained the fur- 
belows and the laces, which have long since disap- 
peared among us. They often use their ruffles 
instead of pocket handkerchiefs, and have the 
strange custom of concealing their money and 
their segars in their hair. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 319 

I could not form an opinion of the women of \ 
Colombia, till I had visited the two regions of 
which the country is composed ; the Cordillera 
and the plains. I therefore determined not to 
say anything on this delicate subject till I arrived 
at Panama ; in which I was right, for this city 
has furnished me with a multitude of traits, 
which were wanting to complete the portrait I 
had sketched of the Colombian women. It has I 
been continually reported that the Spaniards are 
extremely jealous of their wives ; they have been 
always represented with a dagger in their hands : 
this certainly is not the case in America. In the 
very different climates of the Andes and the Lla- 
nos, the women equally exercise an irresistible 
influence over their indolent and enervated hus- 
bands. Far from being confined within iron 
gratings, diversions, balls, visits, everything is 
permitted them, without their having to fear the 
controul of their husbands, who rarely accom- 
pany them. Slaves in the hot countries, and 
female servants in the cold countries^ are alone 
admitted to the secret of their promenades, in 
which they attend them. 

It is a pretty general opinion that, in pro- 
portion as the country is warmer, the hair of the 
women is blacker, and that in the cold countries 
it is generally fair. This observation, though 
correct in Europe, does not apply here ; it is quite 
the contrary. At Carthagena, we see many wo- 



320 



TRAVELS IN THE 



men with fair, and even red hair ; and at Santa- 
Fe, where the temperature is so cold, we find 
none but brown. It is with surprise that we see 
on the coast of Colombia, only 10 degrees from 
the line, women, whose thick hair is of a length 
that might be envied in Europe. Those who pos- 
sess it are of course very careful to make it one 
of their finest ornaments. At Panama, they form 
it into two tresses, which hang down on their 
shoulders ; at Carthagena, they arrange it in 
thick tufts on the front of the head, where it is 
generally fastened by a tortoise shell comb, and 
flowers of different colours are artfully mixed 
with it, In some parts of the Cordillera, the la- 
dies fasten in their hair shining insects called 
Cucuyos, the lustre of which is superior to that 
of the emerald. 

In the women of warm climates, there is 
nothing more beautiful than the head ; the fea- 
tures have a delicacy, the eyes a lustre which is 
found only in Spanish women. They have also 
pretty hands ; their feet are extremely small, but 
this, perhaps, injures the equilibrium of the body, 
thecontinual see-saw of which is far from graceful. 
Nevertheless, the ladies of the tierras calientes 
have much more dignity in their carriage than 
those of the cold countries ; the former have the 
manners of ladies of quality ; the others have 
too often the awkward air of bourgeoises. 

If the hair of the latter is not so beautiful 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 321 

as that of the women on the coast, if their 
eye is without expression, if their hands and 
feet are not so delicate as those of their ri- 
vals, they have, on the other hand, forms which 
retain their grace to an advanced period of life, 
and are free from that leanness, with which the 
others may be reproached ; the women of the 
Andes would be even much more beautiful, if 
they had not in general bad teeth ; the beauty of 
their complexion cannot fail to please a Euro- 
pean in particular, though it is far from equal- 
ling that of the women of Europe. In general, 
the Flemings may give an idea of the children of 
the Spaniards in the Cordillera ; the two races, 
derived from a common origin, but chilled by an 
equally cold climate, have a striking resemblance 
even in their accent: it is nearly the same. Like 
the Flemish women, those of the tierras frias, 
have rather too much embonpoint ; they have 
neither the English melancholy nor the German 
languor ; a pleasing smile, which is their true 
character, is always on their lips ; their counte- 
nance is impressed with an air of kindness and 
mildness, which their humane and charitable 
character does not contradict. The Arab nasal 
pronunciation, which the women on the coast 
have, in a very great degree, often renders 
their language disagreeable ; the women of the 
Cordillera, on the contrary, speak in a slow 

Y 



322 



TRAVELS IN THE 



and measured manner, like the Creoles of our 
Antilles. 

The costume of the women of the Cordille- 
ra is very original ; when they go abroad, they 
wear a black silk petticoat, which is sufficiently 
close to shew the form ; a piece of blue cloth 
thrown over the head, and falling in a triangular 
shape down to the waist, is contrived to hide the 
arms, which are always bare ; no part of the face 
is to be seen except the nose and eyes. Above 
this mantilla, they put on a hat with a shallow 
crown, and broad brim. The women of the 
coast gradually renounce the elegant costume 
of the Andalusians, to adopt that of the English 
ladies. 

The education of the women of Spanish Ame- 
rica is much less advanced than that of the wo- 
men of North America ; a very few are able to 
sing or play on some instrument ; yet they are 
naturally better musicians than the others ; they 
are intelligent, quick of apprehension, and learn 
with facility ; on the other hand, they are defi- 
cient in judgment and taste. 

The Colombian women have no great love 
for each other ; party spirit is not the only cause 
of this antipathy. Envy, the rivalry of rank, 
fortune, origin, cast, diffuse in society a spirit 
of hatred, which is not at first observed amidst 
the caresses which they lavish on each other, and 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



323 



which shews the great art of the people of the 
hot countries in dissimulation. But when two 
female friends, if there be any such, open their 
hearts to each other, then their neighbours are 
sacrificed without mercy ; they exhaust all the 
sarcasms of slander. This is a kind of conversation 
natural enough to women who seldom go out, 
and pass their days in turning over a book, which 
ennui makes them throw aside twenty times, or 
in braiding their hair, or in reclining on a bed and 
smoking a segar. 

Slander is not the only aliment of the con- 
versation of the Colombian ladies ; love also has 
a great share in it : they speak of it with the 
freedom that men in France use ia their conver- 
sations. They talk of the lover of la Seraphina, 
la Concepcion, la Incarnacion, with an openness 
which would make a well educated European 
lady blush. Confided from their tenderest in- 
fancy to the care of corrupt servants, many 
young ladies derive their first ideas from their 
conversation, and they are acquainted with the 
language of vice, while they are ignorant of that 
of virtue which is spoken to them at the age 
of twelve years, by a confessor, who is sometimes 
ignorant,* and often dangerous. Leaving the 
convents, where they are taught nothing but s 
reading and writing, they enter the world at 
the age of fifteen, without any means of resist- 

y 2 



324 



TRAVELS IN THE 



ing the dangers to which they are exposed, but 
the first ideas of their childhood. Instead of 
turning their thoughts to useful employments, 
or agreeable arts, the only diversion they know 
is that of smoking. 

Such they are, when their parents, weary 
of a long, and often useless superintendence, 
think of marrying them. Their choice is soon 
made, for they have only to attend to some pe- 
cuniary considerations. The marriage is con- 
cluded ; ardent desires are soon satisfied, the 
man and wife soon perceive that they have never 
loved each other ; and this observation is soon 
succeeded by hatred. In general the appear- 
ances of concord and friendship are preserved 
till the birth of the second child. They then 
come to an amicable rupture, and the husband 
separates from his wife. Such is the termination 
of marriages in the eastern Cordillera. 

It is different on the coast and in the western 
Cordillera ; the conduct of the women is more 
strict ; wherever there are helots, the women 
are more reserved, because it is necessary for 
them to be on their guard before their slaves, 
in order to insure their respect and obedience. 
On the other hand, the morals of the men are 
perhaps less pure than elsewhere. It is affirmed 
I that the women of the hot countries are much 
more interested than those of the cold ones : 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



325 



shall we then suppose that, virtue as it is more 
or less austere, is but interest better or worse 
understood ? All the women are very devout with- 
out being fanatical ; they are fond of the cere- 
monies of religion because they are eager for 
something to occupy their attention. 

The women of the Cordillera and the plain, 
therefore, have opposite kinds of beauty; how- 
ever, no great difference is observable in their 
habits and character : the antipathy between 
them is excessive ; those of the coast give to the 
women of the Andes the name of lanudas, or 
woolly, because they are dressed in cloth ; the 
latter call the others by the epithet of calenta- 
nas, hot. National hatred has in general no 
other origin than the rivalship and the quarrels 
of the women ; and here the nature of the 
country contributes to foment and to perpetuate 
them. 

I am now on the point of quitting Colom- 
bia, after having travelled in it a whole year. 
I have been enabled, during this long stay, to col- 
lect a multiplicity of details, many of which 
were little known ; I have introduced them in 
the preceding narrative, but I have not com- 
pleted my task. I have spoken only in a cur- 
sory manner of the manufactures, the commerce, 
and the agriculture of the country ; and I must 
not leave it without giving a more particular 



326 



TRAVELS IN THE 



account of these several branches of public pros- 
perity. I intend to make a few observations 
on the physical appearance of Colombia, and the 
public spirit of the inhabitants. They will serve 
to explain a thousand particulars which seem to 
contradict the ideas generally entertained of the 
equinoctial countries of America and the people 
who inhabit them. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



327 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Description of the Republic of Colombia — Mountains — Climate — Air — 
Seasons— Temperature— Wind — Rain — Tropical Influence — Harvest — 
Forests — Rivers — Ravines — Mines — Lakes — Seas — Wild Animals — 
Domestic Animals — Plains of the Oronooko — General appearance of the 
Country. 

The republic of Colombia comprises two coun- 
tries entirely different, which the Spanish govern- 
ment had also separated in the political division 
it established. 1. New Grenada ; this viceroyalty 
was formed of the provinces of the Cordilleras 
from Guayaquil to Merida, of that of Casanare 
and San-Juan de los Llanos. 2. Caracas; this 
capitaincy contained Cumana, Barcelona, Cara- 
cas, Varinas, and Guyana, consequently the 
greater part of the plains. 

The Cordillera of the Andes, at 2° of the 
south of the line, divides into three branches, 
only one of which, the most westerly, extends 
through the isthmus of Panama into North 
America ; the two others terminate at the 
gulph of Mexico. All these are divided into 
tierras calientes (warm lands), which are ge- 
nerally the vallies of the rivers and the mari- 
time provinces ; tierras templeadas (temperate 
lands) ; tierras frias (cold lands) ; paramos (bar- 



228 



TRAVELS IN THE 



ren lands ; lastly, nevados (lands covered with 
snow.) The same mountain sometimes contains 
them all. It is strange enough, and is the most 
curious phenomenon in the Indies, that we can 
pass, in the same day, from the burning climate 
of the coast of central Africa to that of the frozen 
regions of Lapland ; a transition which is with- 
out danger, because it is not sudden, and a man 
may change his climate according to circum- 
stances and the strength of his constitution. 
Thus, invalids of Santa-Fe, who cannot bear the 
cold, which is often severe, go in search of 
warmth, as people visit France to take the 
waters, yet with the singular advantage of find- 
ing a milder temperature, before the end of the 
day on which they set out. For instance, if they 
go to Cakesa, after passing at sun-rise fine fields 
of barley and green meadows, and crossing rapid- 
ly, at eleven o'clock, the heaths of the damp and 
frozen mountains which overlook them, they de- 
scend their sides at three o'clock under the shade 
of quinquina-trees, and walk before night among 
banians, sugar-canes, the sugar-apple (annona 
squamosa J and coffee-trees ; a valuable privilege 
attached to this fortunate country, and which 
is repeated in a thousand places. 

The appearance of these mountains is no less 
varied than their temperature. At their feet ex 
tend on one side immense pastures, on the other 
impenetrable forests ; the vallies, if we except 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



329 



those through which the rivers flow, are generally 
at a considerable elevation. 

The climate of the tierras calientes, in the 
Cordilleras, is burning, without being unwhole- 
some ; the European suffers much from the heat, 
but it seldom proves fatal to him. The tempe- 
rature is too hot to be agreeable to him ; but, 
being cooled from time to time, and purified by 
the salutary breezes from the Andes, it is not 
deadly. As soon as you have ascended to the 
elevation of 400 toises, you breathe a cooler air, 
which, however, does not yet seem temperate ; 
at 600 toises, the European approaches an atmos- 
phere which suits him ; at 900, is on its borders : 
from 1,000 to 1,400, he is in it ; these are the 
tierras frias. Here he finds his own climate, 
though the cold is disagreeable to him for some 
time. Higher up, that of the paramos appears 
rigorous ; and, in the nevados, he sometimes pe- 
rishes, like the natives of the country, benumbed 
by the chilling winds which blow there. 

The air respired is therefore very different, 
according to the elevation at which we are 
placed ; rendered heavy by the vapours with 
which it is loaded, it is disagreeable to the smell 
at the foot of Cordillera, and reminds those who 
have visited other parts of the world between the 
tropics, of that which prevails in the low regions, 
and the pestilential exhalations brought by it. 
Above these burning spots, the air, embalmed by 



330 



TRAVELS IN THE 



the sweet perfume of the flowers and aromatic 
plants, charms every sense, and we fancy our- 
selves in Europe. 

There are in the Cordilleras four seasons 
different from ours : they rather resemble those 
of the tropics, that is to say, there are two dry 
and two rainy seasons. The first commence at 
the solstices, and the other at the equinoxes ; 
their setting in, sometimes varies a fortnight. 

As to the temperature, it does not experience 
any change, and it is in this that the seasons of 
America are so different from ours. Two degrees 
produce a sensible difference between the cold of 
winter and that of the dry season ; yet it must 
be observed, that it is greater in proportion as 
you descend towards the foot of the mountain ; 
it is then sometimes one-third ; so that, after 
rain, the thermometer sometimes falls from 24° 
to 16°. 

The snow-clad mountains of Cucuy serve to 
cool the lower and interior tracts which surround 
them, in the same manner as the mountains 
which are nearer the equator temper the heat, 
which would have burnt up the provinces situ- 
ated along the great Ocean. At intervals, we 
saw in the western Cordillera some of those sum- 
mits covered with snow, such as the Coconuos 
and the Quindiu ; lower down there are none of 
them, because to the east the mountains of Santa- 
Martha rise to the limit of perpetual snow ; and 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



331 



further on the Cordilleras, confined between two 
seas, exposed on all sides to the winds and tem- 
pests. 

Though the winds are variable in the Cordil- 
leras, two may be distinguished as general, name- 
ly, the north and the south ; these follow the di- 
rection of the Cordillera : the south wind brings 
fine weather, and the north rain and storms. 
Nevertheless, all the places situated beyond the 
mountain to the east, are excepted from this 
rule ; they are subject to the winds of the plains, 
as the provinces washed by the great Ocean are 
to the sea winds, and those to the south of the 
line to the winds from the north-west. 

It seldom rains in the Cordilleras in the dry 
season, and there is rarely a day without rain dur- 
ing the wet one ; so that, as in all the equinoctial 
regions, we may reckon six months rain and six 
months dry weather, though they are differently 
distributed ; in fact, it rains in March, April, 
May, and June ; the sky is serene in July, Au- 
gust, and September ; the rains recommence in 
October, November, and December, and are 
succeeded by the fine weather, which continues 
from the end of that month to the beginning of 
March. 

Even in that part, where we are reminded of 
Europe and its productions, as at Tunja and 
Santa-Fe, the same tropical influence is ob- 
served. The trees are always green ; instead of 



332 



TRAVELS IN THE 



the rains, which inundate the plain from June to 
October, there are frozen mists, which render the 
dog-days very cold. To these revolutions of the 
atmosphere, very different from those which 
take place among us, are attributed the fatal 
diseases which there often afflict man, and which 
we ascribe to the excessive heat. 

To this benevolent arrangement of nature 
are owing more abundant harvests, which are 
rarely destroyed by the rigour or changeableness 
of the seasons ; if any circumstance destroys it in 
one place, the effect of these disasters is easily 
repaired by the products of the rich harvests 
gathered at a short distance. 

The land, therefore, hardly ever disappoints 
the expectation of the cultivator; thus his la- 
bours are different, according to the places in 
which he sows In the burning plains of the 
Magdalena and of the Cauca, excellent tobacco 
is grown : they cultivate the banians, sugar cane, 
cacao, and likewise maize, the constant compa- 
nion of man wherever he settles ; in fact, it is 
met with near the fields of wheat, oats, and pota- 
toes,, which cover the regions of the cold lands. 

In the elevated spots, wheat is sown in 
March ; towards the middle of the mountains, 
maize in July ; and in the valley, in September. 
The harvest is gathered here in January, higher 
up in October, and on the paramos in August. 

The more the soil is scorched by the heat of 



Rl PUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



333 



the sun, and at the same time the more frequently 
inundated, the more vast and majestic are the 
forests. In proportion to the elevation, the height 
of the trees diminishes, and at 1,300 toises they 
are very rare. 

A great number of rivers, which are impor- 
tant on account of the communications they may 
sometime afford, flow in the territory of Colom- 
bia : the Zulia, enters the lake of Maraca'fbo ; 
and the Atrato, the gulph of Mexico, after 
having traversed a part of Choco ; the Rio San- 
Juan, which flows through the western part of this 
province, empties itself into the great Ocean ; 
the impetuous Dagua, which rises in the heights 
of the Cali, falls into the same sea at San-Buena- 
ventura ; the Rio de las Esmeraldas, which comes 
from the environs of Quito ; and the Rio de 
Guayaquil, by which the productions of the pro- 
vinces near Chimborazo are conveyed to the 
coast, also go into the great Ocean. From the 
back of the eastern chain of the Andes, larger 
rivers flow than those which descend from the 
western Cordilleras ; they carry the tribute of 
their waters to the Oronooko and the Amazons, 
both of which enter the Atlantic, after having 
been joined in their course by the rio Negro and 
the Cassiquiare. The principal are, the Apure, 
which traverses the province of Varinas; the 
Meta, which rises at the distance of some days' 
journey from the capital, and in the same chain 



334 



TRAVELS IN THE 



of mountains where it is situated ; lastly, the 
Putu-Mayo, which, issuing from a lake upon a 
paramo, situated on the mountains of Pasto, 
carries its waters to the Amazon. 

These are not the only means of communica- 
tion afforded by nature : she has every where 
pierced the walls of the Cordilleras, and opened 
passages by means of rivers, which although 
considerable, are scarcely navigable on account 
of the rocks obstructing their beds. Torrents, 
ravines, rivulets, fertilize the country, and often 
afford the inhabitants roads, which all their 
efforts would never have been able to open. The 
streams issuing from the Cordilleras, flowing on 
rocks and beds of gravel, are generally clear and 
cool ; for this reason they are said to be unwhole- 
some, the cause of which may be the particles of 
metal which they contain. Among the sands 
which they bring down, small grains of gold and 
of iron pyrites are often found, and even emeralds 
and other precious stones, which the people are 
too ignorant to collect. 

The Cordilleras must not therefore be looked 
upon as an assemblage of inaccessible mountains, 
as they appear to be at a distance. By means of 
the first range of the heights, which are, as it 
were, buttresses destined to support the prodi- 
gious arch of the Andes, and of the ravines, which 
the rains have hollowed out, and which serve to 
carry them off, the people everywhere find steps 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



335 



to aid them in ascending the mountains ; as they 
advance, they meet with vallies which nature has 
placed at intervals, and has adorned with all 
imaginable charms. At last, they arrive at the 
plateaus, which, like those of Bogota and 
Quito, form the boundary of so many wonders ; 
when we reach the Panama, where vegetation 
ceases, we are not inclined to complain of the 
rigour of the cold, upon reflecting that these ste- 
rile tracts are destined to preserve it, for the hot 
and unwholesome winds of the plains, purified on 
their summits, descend from them in beneficial 
breezes into the vallies which they command, 
while from their sides the streams flow which are 
to fertilize them. 

If the earth produces abundant harvests, if 
the same mountain yields the harvests of Eu- 
rope, and, lower down, those of the tropics, 
lastly, if the forests, which partly cover it, abound 
in medicinal plants, gums, resins, and valuable 
woods both for dying and building, its bosom 
contains immense riches. There are provinces, like 
Choco, where the soil may be said to be entirely 
of gold. The metals, like the agricultural pro- 
duce, are, with some exceptions, limited to par- 
ticular districts. At 50 toises, we begin to find 
the zone of gold and platina, and higher that of 
silver ; copper and iron are nearly at the summit 
of the mountains. 

In the neighbourhood of the principal para- 



336 



TRAVELS IN THE 



mos, there are generally lakes, often of considera- 
ble extent, and agitated like the sea. They maybe 
considered as the source of all the rivers which 
defend the Andes from the drought, which the 
vicinity of the equator would occasion, but for 
wise disposition of Providence. 

The seas which bound the republic of Colom- 
bia are tranquil. The temperature and climate 
of that part of the great Ocean which bathes the 
coasts of this country, are the same as those on 
the continent. The Atlantic ocean has few dan- 
gers for mariners ; the gulph of Mexico, on the 
contrary, present many. The storms and the pi- 
rates combine against merchants ; both spread 
terror and devastation on the sea and the coast. 

The wild animals, the jaguar, the conguar, 
the serpents, crocodiles and large lizards, centi- 
pedes, scorpions, toads, (acarus americanus) the 
sting of which causes the hair to fall off, make 
the shuddering of terror succeed to melancholy 
in the hot plains. The traveller knows not 
where to walk, to sit clown or to sleep ; the howl- 
ing of the winds, the rustling of the leaves, every 
thing alarms him ; the spangles with which the 
fire flies illumine the woods during the night, 
look like the glaring eyes of a serpent, and chill 
him with horror. 

All the domestic animals of Europe* have 

* At Popayan and Santa-Fe, llamas are kept as a cu- 
riosity, for they are never employed as beasts of burthen. 



REPUBLIC OP COLOMBIA. 



337 



increased prodigeously in America. While every 
where else, the heat and low situation contri- 
bute to develope their strength and size, and 
the elevation of the lands and the cold to check 
them, in the immense territory of Colombia, 
we find just the contrary : the animals are all 
small and un tameable in the plains, while those 
on the mountains are strong, large and docile ;* 
a fact which is the more curious, as in the Antilles 
they have preserved the habits, the forms and the 
size which they have in Europe. These islands 
have, in every thing, the appearance of colonies, 
the continent alone has a physiognomy peculiar 
to itself. 

At the foot of these heights extend the al- 
most uninhabited plains watered by the Meta and 
the Oronooko, and further towards the north, the 
rich plains of Venezuela. The physical descrip- 
tion of these countries may serve for all those 
which are scorched by the equatorial sun. Six 
months rain from April to November, and six 
months drought, divide the year. The east wind 
prevails in the one, and the north in the other. 
Nature shines in this country in all the splendour 
with which the climate of the tropics adorns it ; 
immense forests, savannahs of prodigious extent, 
and which are traversed by rivers confined within 

* It is not the same with birds, which are larger and 
fatter in the plains than in the mountains, 

Z 



338 



TRAVELS 5N THE 



their beds for six months, and during the other 
six, overflowing their banks to a great distance, 
such is the picture of the provinces of the Llanos, of 
the Guyana and of the Casanare ; we must return 
into those of Caracas and the Cumana to escape 
the deluge which changes so considerable a tract 
of country into marshes and lakes. Thus, while a 
mild temperature and a drier soil induce the 
whites (Americans) to cultivate the noble country 
of Venezuela, breeding of cattle seems to be the 
only kind of occupation which can be followed in 
the midst of the marshes formed by the overflow- 
ing of so many rivers, and of the forests which 
line their banks, the trees of which serve as the 
abode of some Indian tribe during the season 
of storms. 

Thus on an immense extent of 29,952 square 
leagues, which M. von Humboldt supposes it to 
contain, the territory of Colombia presents a 
thousand different aspects ; they are seldom ani- 
mated by the presence of man ; a profound si- 
lence reigns through nature ; the desert spaces are 
so great, that, during whole days, the traveller 
might fancy himself in a country where human 
foot had never trod. The names of places, villa- 
ges and provinces ; the manners, customs, and 
even the situation occupied by the Indian habi- 
tations, are all unchanged. The solitudes are 
as profound, the forests as impenetrable, the 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



339 



mountains as inaccessible, animated nature as 
solitary ; every thing, in short, with the excep- 
tion of a few places, is as savage as when the 
Spaniards entered it. They have contented them- 
selves with enlarging the hamlets and villages 
where the aborigenes dwelt, and have only culti- 
vated those fields which surrounded places for- 
merly inhabited. 



340 



TRAVELS IN THE 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Population — Inhabitants of the Paramos — Inhabitants of the corn moun- 
tains — Inhabitants of the plains — Indios bravos — Negro Slaves — 
Religion. 

All the provinces of Colombia were so united 
under the Spanish government, they had so sel- 
dom occasion to compare themselves together and 
to hate each other, that they knew only the two 
great divisions of Caracas and New Grenada. 
The distinctions of colours and cast were unknown. 
There were only slaves, subjects and a sovereign. 
Now that titles have been abolished to revive the 
rights of each individual, there are neither mas- 
ters nor slaves ; we find only equals ready to 
tear each other to pieces. Formerly all consti- 
tuted one great Spanish family, at present, if 
we except their language and religion which are 
the same, the bonds of union are broken. Here 
are the blacks and there the whites ; on one side 
the half whites, and on the other mulattoes. 

To make these differences better known, we 
shallgive a distinct account of the different races, 
their origin and their mixture ; we shall class the 
inhabitants of Colombia according to the places 
which they inhabit, and describe in a separate chap- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



341 



ter their national character, dividing them into 
inhabitants of the hot and the cold lands. ^ 

In general the Creoles who are called whites, \ 
descend from a mixture of the Spanish race with 
the blacks and Indians. In the maritime provin- 
ces, the first especially have entered into European 
families ; and in the Cordilleras, it has been ne- 
cessary to admit the Indians. 

The whites on the coast, have all the Spanish 
features ; those of the Cordilleras have more re- 
semblance with the Europeans of the north, 
though their eyes have retained in a great degree 
the obliquity of the Indians ; they have gene- 
rally black and rough hair like the aborigenes of 
the New World. 

A great number of the inhabitants of Colom- 
bia are disfigured by two horrid maladies, the 
syphilis and the goitres ; the children are born 
with the germs of the disorder. The first seems 
to be endemical in the country. Neglected by 
the ignorance of the inhabitants, it assumes a 
thousand different shapes ; nevertheless it is not 
so violent as in Europe ; every remedy is at hand 
to check its progress. 

Nothing can cure the goitre ; there are pla- 
ces where every body is afnicted with it, without 
any reason that can be assigned. However, in 
general, it is met with only in the mountains, 
and in places remote from the influence of the 
sea breezes. 



342 



TRAVELS IN THE 



The negroes and Indians have a strong con- 
stitution, very superior to that of the whites. 
The negroes have all the characteristics of the 
African countenance ; among those of Colombia 
are placed the children of the Indian and the 
black, whose features are generally handsome, 
with a good stature and long hair ; they are called 
zambos. 

The Indians are very robust ; their teeth 
never decay, and their hair does not turn grey, 
till they are ninety years of age. They are ex- 
tremely sober, and their stomach so strong, that 
nothing can incommode them. The Indians have 
round countenances, rather more broad than 
long, and a little convex ; the forehead flattened 
and the hair coming down within two fingers 
breadth of the eye-brows ; the skull low ; the 
nose small and thin ; their eyes black, oblique 
and without expression ; very prominent cheek 
bones, their lips rather thick ; they have no 
beard till a very advanced age. They are of 
middling stature ; their body square and broad 
is supported by little crooked legs. Their co- 
lour is copper in the mountains, and bronze in 
the plains. 

The Indians, formerly condemned to a 
state of servitude, have all been declared free 
since the revolution ; so that we hear no more 
of the distinctions of lndios redncidos (reduced 
Indians) ; but that of lndios racionales or civili- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



343 



zados, (rational or civilized Indians) ; and those 
of Indios bravos, irracionales, salvages, (savage 
Indians). 

All the Indians of the mountains, except 
those who inhabit the heights of Santa-Martha, 
and some parts of the chain of the Quindiu, are 
classed under the first head ; a small number of 
the Indians of the plains may be included in it ; 
the remainder form part of the second. 

The latter are esteemed for their perseve- 
rance in labour, and their strength, which renders 
them capable of resisting the inclemency of the 
weather, though it is not equal to too severe 
labour. They are also valued for works which 
require patience, and above all for their obe- 
dience. 

The Indios bravos are an entirely opposite 
character; whence the effeminacy which is al- 
ways the effect of a warm and moist tempera- 
ture, has been ascribed to the custom followed 
by those of the mountains of placing their huts on 
the sides of lakes and marshes, and their immo- 
derate use of chicha. 

A temperate climate which never varies 
induces peaceable manners ; besides, three centu- 
ries of peace, the abundance produced by easy 
agricultural labours, of which they are fond, 
the repose secured by the remoteness or absence 
of formidable enemies, have preserved among 
the Indians that mild and docile character, which 



344 



TRAVELS IN THE 



they had even at the time of the conquest, since 
in the Cordillera, royalty was every where es- 
tablished on a splendid footing, and a traveller 
without quitting the summit of the Andes, passed 
from one monarchy to another, from Mexico to 
Peru. 

On the highest summit of the Cordillera, we 
meet with Indians feeding their flocks, or retired 
into their huts, without any other clothing than 
a cotton shirt, and trowsers ; they seldom need 
any fire to warm themselves ; whereas in the de- 
serts of Africa, the people cannot sleep in the 
night, without lighting one. The Indians hard- 
ly ever enjoy the sight and the agreeable warmth 
of the sun. Always enveloped in vapours, chilled 
by the winds which descend from the snowy 
peaks, from which they are sometimes only a 
few toises distant ; almost naked, but accus- 
tomed to this miserable life, they pass their days 
unknown to the rest of mankind, with whose 
existence they are themselves unacquainted. 
Happy in the enjoyment of a liberty which no- 
body envies them, they roam about the heaths of 
the paramos, without thinking that the universe 
is at their feet ; for them it begins in the region 
of the cryptogamous plants, and ends with that 
of the snows. 

There is something singular, though it has 
been but little remarked, in the existence of a 
pastoral people, placed at the height of 2,000 toises 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



345 



above the level of the sea, who have pasturages 
as rich as those of the plains of Russia, and live 
amid rocks as elevated as the Peak of Teneriffe. 

From these desolate scenes, where vegetation 
expires, we descend to those where it revives, and 
where nature resumes her strength. Here we find 
another nation of Indians, who cultivate the soil; 
the fields are covered with harvests, the seeds of 
which they have received from Europe. 

The Indian does not like living in large so- 
cieties; — he is melancholy, and it is seldom that a 
neighbour troubles his repose. Perhaps the In- 
dians originally dispersed themselves in this man- 
ner, that they might not have among them a 
Spaniard under the name of priest or an alcaid. 

The Indian of the mountain is not like the 
negro, noisy in his pleasures, though equally par- 
tial to music and dancing ; they are both fond 
of them in a different manner. The negro when 
dancing leaps, springs, and stamps with his feet ; 
the Indian, on the contrary, moves with a slow 
measured step ; the one is animated only by the 
sound of the drum, and the noise of his enormous 
ivory trumpets ; the other is affected only by the 
mournful languishing tone of a hollow reed ; he 
listens with delight to one of his bards, beating 
time with a hollow bamboo, filled with grains of 
maize, or scraping with a stick on the jaw bone of 
a mule, the only instrument possessed by the 
inhabitants of the Cordillera. Their tastes, 



346 



TRAVELS IN THE 



their diversions, are as calm as the air they 
breathe. 

In proportion as we remove from the heights, 
the appearance of nature and of the inhabitants 
changes. The banks of the river are generally 
burnt up by a sultry heat ; we observe other ha- 
bits, another mode of life, and often regret the 
mildness of the shepherds, and the politeness of 
the Indian farmers, when comparing it with the 
rude and violent character of the coasters and 
the fishermen. 

The people of the plains of the Oronooko, and 
the Apure, present an infinite variety of colours. 
Their character is lively and passionate. If in the 
town this vivacity degenerates into rudeness, in 
the plains it becomes boldness and courage. The 
free negro, or the mulattoe, in the maritime pro- 
vinces, if he be not a sailor, is a workman. Those 
of the plains return to the natural taste of all 
the Africans, and very different from all the In- 
dians of the mountains, they are fond of riding 
on horseback, hunting and war. In fact, the In- 
dians of the Cordilleras love the peaceful labours 
of agriculture, are attached to their huts, pa- 
tiently support fatigue, and fear danger. The 
inhabitant of the plain eagerly seeks it ; to hunt 
the jaguar, to tame a fiery courser, to catch a bull 
with a noose : these are his sports and exercises. 
As bold when thev make war as when thev attack 
the bulls in the woods, these people often employ, 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



347 



to catch them, a noose of leather, which they 
throw with such address, that whatever it reaches 
is taken and killed. In the pampas of Buenos 
Ayres a similar race of men fix iron balls to the 
end of the thongs, a terrible weapon, which seldom 
misses its object. 

Nothing stops them in their excursions and their 
enterprises. Mounted on their horses, they capture, 
even in the water, fleets which suppose themselves 
secure from their attacks. It was thus that Pais 
destroyed that of the Spaniards on the Oronooko. 

These new Arabs naturally despise the indo- 
lent and mild people of the Cordilleras. Civiliza- 
tion appears to them to be a weakness, which 
they designate by all the diminutives of the 
Spanish language. The inhabitants of the Andes 
are, in their eyes, not brave and hardy men, 
but blanquillos, little whites. 

The Llanaros, or inhabitants of the plain, are 
divided like all the people of the tierras calientes, 
into the children of Europeans and Indian women, 
and those of negroes and Indians. Among them we 
still find tribes of Indians, whose savage habits 
have not been changed in any degree ; and who, 
since the destruction of the missions, will not 
lose them, except by entering into the families of 
the new inhabitants of the plains. 

The Indios bravos (savage Indians) have 
neither the mildness of those called reducidos ; 
nor the courageous, though not ferocious bold- 



348 



TRAVELS IN THE 



ness of the Zambos, who occupy their territory. 
They are unacquainted with any other means of 
combatting their enemies then by surprise ; and 
when they fall into their hands they eat them. 
The want of food, which these people naturally 
experienced when they first came into these vast 
countries, was probably the origin of this horrible 
custom. 

The number of savage Indians in Colombia 
is considerable ; and though ancient and modern 
geographers have included them in the Spanish 
possessions, they have always enjoyed a complete 
independence which Spain left them, or which 
they acquire by concealing themselves in inacces- 
sible places. Perhaps if Spain had been able to 
have conquered all America, in the first century 
after the discovery, they would have been sub- 
jected to its laws ; but a hundred years afterwards 
the Spaniards thought only of enjoying, and the 
conquest of a few barbarians offered no temptation. 
Thus the Guajires who live between Santa-Martha 
and Rio-Hacha ; the Indians of the Darien and of 
San-Bias * ; the Andaquis to the south of Ti- 
mana, and the numerous wandering tribes from 
the banks of the Amazons to those of the Apure 
lived in peace, so long as they did not act offen- 
sively. 

It is long since they have disturbed the re- 
pose of their civilized neighbours, who, on their 

* They all speak English. 



\ 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



349 



side, do not interfere with them. By degrees the co- 
lonists advance and make them retire ; but wives 
are no longer to be obtained among them. The 
jealousy of the men has contrived to inspire the 
women with a violent antipathy for the whites, 
whose first invasions have not been forgotten. The 
system of repartimientos prevents this inconve- 
nience ; by reducing the Indians to the state of 
vassals, they were made to consider it as an 
honour to enter the families of their masters. 
These unions have given birth to a peaceful, agri- 
cultural, and industrious population in places, 
which before this measure, rendered necessary by 
circumstances, had been stained with the blood 
of human sacrifices. 

The independence which all these savages, 
whether mulattoes, negroes, or Indians, enjoy, 
and the nature of the country in which they live, 
should make the chiefs of the government give up 
the idea of again transporting the camel into 
America, and they should the less regret that the 
first attempt of this kind was counteracted by the 
civil war ; in fact, if this attempt had succeeded, 
it is very probable that the black and almost 
savage inhabitants of the plains, provided with 
some bananas, deriving an intoxicating and never- 
failing beverage from the trunks of the palms, 
would not have consented to have remained in 
fixed abodes. Even since the beginning of the 
war a great number of the Llaneros have deserted 



350 



TRAVELS IN THE 



them ; already they look with contempt on the 
frozen summit of the Andes, and defying the 
timid and mild inhabitants of those mountains, 
they seem to await them in the plains, where, 
perishing with heat and thirst, they will fall an 
easy prey. 

These hypotheses are not without foundation. 
The inhabitant of the burning plain of America, 
amidst the oppression of the heat, the plague of 
the insects, and the danger of the wild beasts, has 
acquired a degree of bravery to which the moun- 
taineers are strangers. The mild temperature 
which the Indian half whites breathe in their val- 
lies has given them a delicate constitution, which 
makes them as sensible as the European to the 
heat of the plain. They rarely escape the fever, 
and often fall victims to it ; so that the new 
people of Bedouins, who are supposed to be 
spread in the plains, possessing every thing fa- 
vourable to a wandering life, the camel, the 
horse, large flocks, and the banan would, perhaps, 
renew against Santa-Fe de Bogota, Caracas, 
and in general against all the towns, the incur- 
sions to which they might be invited by the hope 
of pillage. Perhaps the roads of Venezuela, in- 
fested by their robberies, will not become safe 
again till peace be purchased, as is done on the 
road to Mecca. 

An immense continent, where it was easy to 
find a secure retreat, obliged the Spaniards to 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



351 



adopt a system of excessive indulgence and mild- 
ness towards their slaves. However, if they had 
obviated the danger of desertion, they had not 
avoided that of the neglect of agriculture, so 
that every thing languished, and the productions 
of the soil in the continent were very inferior to 
those of the Antilles. Though the number of 
slaves was considerable, it decreased every year by 
the custom of the Spaniards, who, when dying, 
enfranchised them. 

The new government imbibing the principles 
of the European peninsula, has shewn itself very 
favourable to the slaves, and by a law lately 
passed, in forty years there will be none re- 
maining in the republic. 

The greatest number of negroes is found in 
the maritime provinces. Those of Antioquia, the 
Magdalena, of Cauca, of Guayaquil, and of 
Choco, contain a great number ; they have in- 
creased there in such a manner that the whites 
are noticed as in our colonies. In the eastern 
branch of the Cordilleras there are none but 
whites and Indians. 

In all the families of the people, whatever be 
their origin or colour, they are scarcely ever 
troubled with domestic discord ; if there is but 
little cordiality among the number which com- 
pose it, on the other hand there is a mutual at- 
tention and respect which give pleasure. The 
father of the family is an object of veneration ; 



352 



TRAVELS IN THE 



his children give him the title of su merced, your 
grace, and come morning and evening to pay him 
their respect, and to ask his blessing on their 
knees. 

The kind hospitality which the poorest inha- 
bitants of Colombia, formerly took delight in 
shewing is now a subject of chagrin and uneasi- 
ness to them ; formerly they offered it, now in 
many places they will not grant it, unless threat- 
ened by the alcaid ; deceived, plundered by fe- 
rocious soldiers, every traveller appears to them 
a tyrant, coming to occupy their house by force. 
Formerly hospitality was gratuitous, now it is 
paid for, at least a compensation must be given 
to the host. Thus the disasters of war, and acts 
of injustice, have given rise to feelings of self in- 
terest, and there is reason to suppose that in a 
few years it will be carried to excess. 

The following is the statement of the popula- 
tion of New Grenada : 

Whites 250,000 

Mestizoes of whites and Indians . . 400,000 

Indians 450,000 

Mulattoes 550,000 

Free negroes and slaves 94,600 

1,744,600 

Venezuela is supposed to contain 900,000 
inhabitants, two-thirds of whom are people of 
colour ; so that, in a population of 2,644,600 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



353 



individuals, the number of whites is very incon- 
siderable. But the Indian mestizoes, who, to pre- 
tend to the title of whites, require only half a 
century to make their origin forgotten, will 
greatly augment this cast, in which they natu- 
rally enter by their colour; an inestimable advan- 
tage to the whites, as the mestizoes increase with 
a prodigious rapidity, and the war does not appear 
to have diminished their numbers. 

It should seem that, in revolutions, the po- 
pulation is hidden like money, and, in fact, when 
peace succeeds the dangers of war, it reappears in a 
wonderful manner; this will be the case in Colom- 
bia, the number of whose inhabitants, after a few 
years repose, will increase, as is already proved, 
by the cultivation of waste lands, which has 
begun in many places. 

All the casts, composing the population of 
Colombia, have learnt, by the revolution and 
by the agents from St. Domingo, to set a value 
on themselves. They all labour in concert to- 
wards the expulsion of foreigners, each with a 
view of serving his own colour. The Indians alone, 
indifferent to the choice of their masters, regret 
the kindness shown them by the Spaniards, who 
suffered them to enjoy a real independence in 
their villages, called by the name of pueblos de 
Indios. They are not much pleased with an equa- 
lity which assimilates them with the negroes, to- 
wards whom they feel a strong antipathy. 

2 A 



354 



TRAVELS IN THE 



The strongest bond of union between all 
these races, which hinders them from coming to 
a rupture with each other, is religion. Every 
where it preaches concord among the people, that 
he unity of divine worship may be preserved, 
every where its word is listened to with respect ; 
all casts, and all classes, submit to its decrees, and 
their hatred is appeased at its command. 

The climate, the prudence of the clergy, the 
education which the people have received from 
the Spaniards, and which, during three cen- 
turies, has not been affected by any contact of 
foreigners, have inspired all the Colombians with 
a profound respect for all the exercises of religion ; 
accordingly, the fairest title which a Frenchman 
has in their eyes, is that of most christian, and if 
they envy our nation in any thing, it is the having 
given so many saints to the church. 

The authority of the parish priests is abso- 
lute ; the respect shewn them is such, that nobody 
would, on any account, withhold a part of the 
first fruits which are paid to the priest. In other 
respects, it is pleasing to find, in the midst of this 
half-savage population, prudent men, whose as- 
cendancy is able to make them submissive to the 
laws, and to counteract the tyranny of the muni- 
cipal authorities. The ecclesiastics are reproach- 
ed with hating the heretics, and with treating the 
Indians with cruelty : but abuses are always 
found, wherever man exists. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



355 



Notwithstanding the irregularities which are 
laid to the charge of the priests, the greatest de- 
corum prevails in the churches : the devotion of 
the faithful is no less striking : genuflexion, pros- 
tration of soul, nothing is too much for their fer- 
vent piety. Their eyes fixed on the officiating 
priest^ are never drawn aside by an inattentive 
reading of the holy book ; all the prayers are 
known by heart, and punctually recited. 

The women, as in Spain, can only sit down 
on the ground ; contrary to the precept of St. 
Paul, they must all have their heads uncovered. 
With the exception of holidays, vespers are never 
said. A person is not allowed to marry till he has 
taken an oath that he is not a freemason, and 
submitted to a retreat and penitence for a longer 
or shorter period. 

These are not the only religious practices 
which are different from ours. At funerals, the 
body is carried uncovered and richly dressed ; 
and they have preserved the Indian custom of 
dancing and rejoicing at the death of an infant. 
But few towns have public burying grounds, and 
the dead are still deposited under the pavement of 
the churches. 

Many members of the American clergy, if 
they did not fear, by separating from Rome, to 
establish a principle of independence fatal to 
themselves, would be very glad to withdraw from 
the supremacy of a remote sovereign ; they would 

2a 2 



£56 



TRAVELS IN THE 



be particularly happy in having an ecclesiastical 
court, but they are afraid of justifying, by inno- 
vations, those of their adversaries, and of putting 
into the hands of the civil power, which already 
claims the palronato (patronage) # , which Spain 
possessed in the American church, the spiritual 
sceptre which Henry VIII assumed. For this rea- 
son, they prefer preserving their authority, which 
is always respectable, if they themselves respect 
its ancient forms. 

At present, the clergy, having no bold lead- 
ers, are not dangerous to the new government. 
Happy in retaining their property, undisturbed in 
their enjoyments, the heads of the clergy receive 
the homage with which they are dazzled; and 
provided they are honoured, abstain from hos- 
tile projects. The plebian members alone would 
willingly excite confusion ; they are young and 
ardent, but the Roman hierarchy is so immov- 
able, that they must either remain attached to it, 
or fall into heresy : they choose the former. The 
American revolution, partly the work of the 
ecclesiastics, because they hoped to direct its 
movements and reap the fruit of it, is a field 
which still satisfies their ambition ; this is at pre- 
sent confined to the gaining a name by writings, 
or by speeches in a legislative assembly, in which 
it is easy to succeed, because the members of the 

* This right was granted to the kings of Spain by Julius II. 

in 1680. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



357 



clergy are the most enlightened men of the re- 
public. On the other hand, this transitory 
triumph, during* which they have already seen 
some of their most inveterate enemies crowned 
by the people, is a rock against which the moral 
influence of the priests is weakened, and daily 
suffers by the criticisms the profane make 
upon their talents and their eloquence, which 
ceases to be powerful in the pulpit when it has 
been found feeble in the tribune. They plead 
the cause of religion to less advantage when they 
have lost that of political interests. 



358 



TRAVELS IN THE 



CHAPTER XX. 
Character of the Colombians. 

After having given a sketch of the races inha- 
biting Colombia, we have now to paint the na- 
tional character. Some of the features under 
which I shall describe them, will, perhaps, ap- 
pear exaggerated to persons who have been ac- 
quainted only with the enlightened men who are 
at the head of the government, and the clergy of 
Bogota. Undoubtedly, the character which I 
draw is not taken from these persons ; but, it is 
well known that the inhabitants of capital cities 
have a character of their own, infinitely different 
from that of the people of the provinces. It is 
in the latter only that a nation must be studied 
to obtain a thorough knowledge of it : a person 
who has seen only Bogota, who has met in so- 
ciety only the distinguished men who reside 
there : will be far from having an exact notion of 
the Colombians : the number of strangers who 
have visited this city has, in a great degree, 
effaced the national character, which is really to 
be met with only in the towns remote from the 
coast, and from the capital. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 359 



The Colombians who inhabit the hot lands 
are meagre ; their complexion is very yellow ; in 
general they are of small stature, and seldom well 
made. The state of debility in which they lan- 
guish, arises from the decay of the white races 
under the tropics, in proportion as the black 
blood, which is generally mixed with that of the 
Europeans, is impaired and disappears. 

Ascending into the colder regions, the colour 
of the whites is less yellow ; still pale at the height 
of 600 toises, it assumes a colour at a 1000 toises, 
and has a beautiful lustre at the elevation of San- 
ta-Fe de Bogota. Accordingly, the men there 
are in general rather handsome, especially in 
youth, and though sickly, and liable at a riper 
age to a thousand infirmities, their tall and well 
made figures prevent this premature decrepitude 
from being observed.* 

The Colombian has but little vivacity in his 
features, his countenance is gloomy, melancholy 
and without expression ; it is indicative only of 
indolence, and the slowness of his motions proves 
that these signs are not deceitful ; for he is perhaps 
only to be surpassed in idleness by his slave. 

Patience, therefore, is an indispensible qua- 
lity for a stranger ; the more pains he takes to 
accelerate the motions of a person with whom he 

* The dress of the principal people is the same as in 
France ; they have retained no part of the Spanish costume but 
the cloak. 



I 



360 



TRAVELS IN THE 



has engaged in some enterprize, the less progress 
he will make ; and the consequence of his efforts 
may even be, in the end, to change into disgust 
the good will which was at first evinced. To 
hurry a Colombian is like waking mal apropos a 
man who is asleep ; he detests action, except from 
caprice ; to direct him, is impossible, and fatal 
to the person who attempts it. 

The mind of the Colombian is, doubtless, no 
less ardent than that of the European, but, 
brought up under the dominion of a suspicious 
people, he has assumed a habit of concealing by 
his impassibility, the disgust which he feels. There 
is, however, a remarkable difference between the 
inhabitants of the plains and those of the moun- 
tains. Those of the Caracas, in particular, seem to 
have vivacity, and even self conceit, when com- 
pared with the inhabitant of Santa-Fe de Bogota, 
who rather seems endowed with a fund of sim- 
plicity and good sense. 

That pride, which is the basis of the national 
character, is the source of the antipathy, which 
many persons bear to foreigners, and which they 
dissemble under the most affectionate protesta- 
tions. One might be inclined to believe also that 
the jealousy which the Colombians feel of the 
successful activity of the Europeans is the cause 
of their hatred, for their only, their constant 
thought, is interest. This feeling of self-inte- 
rest which, in the North American is the germ 



REPUBLIC OP COLOMBIA. 



361 



of his industry and the developer of its progress, is 
in the Colombians only a mean, selfish sentiment, 
like that of a miser ; it is a love for accumulating 
and scraping together, not the wish for wealth 
in order to spend and enjoy it which produces 
a great commercial activity in a nation. The Co- 
lombians have only the spirit of retail dealers. 

If in commercial affairs they endeavour to 
conceal, under the appearance of disinterested 
coolness, every application of well calculated 
self-interest, when they treat of public affairs, 
they are content with a smile and protestations, 
the insincerity of which is more easily penetrated 
than they imagine. They are not backward in 
uttering their political sentiments, but the mea- 
sures they take are not known till they are exe- 
cuted ; the more sinister they are the less they 
transpire. 

To every question you ask, they answer in 
the affirmative ; whatever favour you solicit is 
never refused, but the promise is forgotten as 
soon as given. With the word diligentia (dili- 
gence) always in their mouth, they never stir. 
Nevertheless they offer of their own accord to act ; 
every thing is a sa disposicion (at your disposal : 
they are always ready, para servir d usted (to serve 
you), when you enquire after their health. It is 
an error to believe them, and those who depend 
upon their good offices, will generally find them- 
selves deceived. 



362 



TRAVELS IN THE 



Whatever is said to them, their features are 
never observed to change. To hear them, their 
modesty seems excessive, for they piace America 
far below Europe in knowledge and talents. A!l 
these protestations are insincere, and they are 
never more flattered than when they are told that 
nothing is done in Europe better than among 
them.* 

They are passionately fond of law suits, and 
detest quarrels. Provided therefore their wives, 
in the hot countries, suffer them to lie at their 
ease in their hammocks, rocking themselves 
continually while smoking their cigars, constant 
peace reigns in the house; the more so, as not- 
withstanding their apparent calmness, they have 
all the ardour of a temperament as hot as the 
climate which develops it. Indifference and in- 
dulgence insure in the mountains the tranquillity 
of families. 

Excepting the love of play, and of trifling oc- 
cupations, which they carry to excess, their mode 
of life seems regular and steady. 

Foreigners whose minds are filled with the 
pompous descriptions, which have been published 
in Europe, of the great number and the riches of 
the gold mines of New Grenada, think only of 
operations of this kind, while the inhabitants of 
the country, looking upon gold as merely a com- 



* See note XV. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



363 



mon metal, think only of discovering diamond 
mines. 

The generality of the Colombians are des- 
titute of knowledge and agreeable talents*. Some 
of them however understand French, admire our 
literature and prefer it to that of other nations : 
the priests in particular are delighted with our 
sacred writers .-f- 

In all ranks we find a studied politeness and 
affability, which, in some persons, are even carried 
to excess. The superior classes possess also the 
virtue of hospitality which has long since been 
banished from Europe. Yet it does not every 
where bear that character of frankness, which 
renders it so amiable in the eyes of travellers. In 
general they pay attention to strangers according 
to their dress ; it procures them respect, or 
exposes them to familiarity, and if their stay is 
protracted, it ends in disgust, and oftentimes an- 
tipathy. 

It is a rule good to be observed, to avoid as 
much as possible, returning to a house where you 
have lodged. It is necessary however to assign a 
motive for this conduct ; but whatever it be, they 
will thank you for it. In fact, if you return to 
the house, you are looked upon as a man who seeks 
to become master there, and who thinks he has 

* New Grenada however has produced men of extraor- 
dinary talents ; we must place in the first rank Vaseques, the 
painter, and the three botanists Mutis, Caldas, and Zea. 

•j* See note XVI. 



364 



TRAVELS IN THE 



a right to do so, especially if you have acted 
generously towards your host, for they are afraid 
that you might assume airs and an authority 
much dreaded by the restless jealousy of the in- 
habitants. 

Respect for parents, the principle of society, 
is general among the Colombians, and the titles 
of sir and madam, are the only ones which chil- 
dren give their parents. 

Lying, jealousy, and ingratitude, are the 
prevailing vices; every people has its own. To 
these may be added revenge, if we put any faith 
in the popular saying : " It is for God to pardon ; 
man, never." 

They often come to a stranger with articles 
of silver plate or pieces of stuff, to borrow mo- 
ney of him on this security ; he should positively 
refuse to lend any, because it is not the debtor 
but the creditor who contracts the obligation ; in 
fact, if he has the boldness to ask for his money 
back, he exposes himself at least to be called 
a tyranno (tyrant.) He must above all resist 
those letters in which, amidst phrases expressing 
the most ardent love, the writer requests an ounce 
of gold for a few days, adroitly insinuating that 
she will come herself and return it. In general 
he never sees either the money or the borrower. 

Whether you give or lend, you will be an- 
swered by the expression so pleasing to the ear of 
a benefactor, but so alarming to that of a lender ; 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



365 



Dios se lo pague, may God reward you ; in fact 
it is often from his goodness that you must ex- 
pect the payment of debts, which have been con- 
tracted, not so much with men as with hu- 
manity. One cannot however help being sur- 
prised at seeing all services acknowledged, by 
the people of the country, by this trite phrase. 
If they cross over a bridge, or remain several days 
in a house, they return thanks and go away with- 
out paying. This is without doubt the reason of 
the refusals which are met with in many places ; 
they are expressed with a delicacy which causes 
them to be borne without anger, though they are 
not always well founded ; for the people who 
answer when they are asked a service : Somos 
pobres (we are poor), are not always so. 

The stranger must, above all things, avoid 
every thing that may awaken jealousy, an eternal 
source of hatred ; that jealousy which the Spa- 
niards are supposed to cherish towards their 
women is not meant here ; very few Americans 
feel it. Talent, sense, knowledge must be shewn 
by the stranger as little as possible ; he cannot 
display any degree of luxury unless he join with 
it inexhaustible liberality ; he must, above all, 
never praise the merits of one man in the pre- 
sence of another ; it would be very misplaced in 
the presence of a poor hidalgo to speak of the 
riches of an opulent neighbour. It is for this 



366 



TRAVELS IN THE 



reason that the English are reproached with speak- 
ing too much of their own country ; which gives 
them the air of intending to make insulting 
comparisons between the poverty of Colombia, 
and the magnificence of Great Britain. In every 
case it must not be forgotten, that the least pre- 
ference shewn, and the most moderate elo- 
gium are affronts which jealousy, the basis of the 
national character, never forgives. It must also 
be remembered that many Colombians lament 
to see their country exposed by the revolution, to 
become the prey of clever foreigners.* 

That delicacy which may be called the es- 
sence of probity, is far from being found among 
the Americans. In a great number of them, the 
traces of recent slavery are found, which autho- 
rise cunning and often bad faith to acquire what 
cannot be obtained from the generosity and the 
justice of the master. 

Another equally well founded reproach that 
may be made against them, is that they seldom 
feel the impulse of gratitude. They receive benefits 
with joy, but soon forget the hand which bestowed 

* With the best intentions, it is not always possible 
to satisfy every body ; a Colombian seldom stops at dislike, 
he is immediately actuated by antipathy, the consequences 
of which are sometimes fatal ; thus as soon as you hear • Such 
a man, Se puso bravo, be on your guard : Such a woman, is 
Brava, do not go abroad. This expression does not mean that 
the individual is brave, courageous, valiant or good, but that he 
is in a passion ; thus a tiger is bravo, and a hen brava. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



367 



them. They think too that they have been ex- 
torted by importunity, and dispense themselves 
from recollecting- them. To ask with importunity, 
to receive joyfully, and forget quickly, are faults 
common to all Colombians. If their fathers were 
guilty of injustice, they are of ingratitude. 

In their pleasures, their feasts and their ce- 
remonies they behave without dignity. All de- 
generates into a familiarity which puts one in 
mind of an equality certainly not that of proud 
republicans. On the other hand it produces in 
their intercourse with strangers, an amenity 
which is very pleasing. 

When they have seen a person once, they 
salute him ; when they have spoken to him, they 
shake hands with him, and affectionately call him 
mi amigo, my friend ; and if he bear the same 
name, they give him the title of tocayo (name- 
sake.) These salutations and kind expressions, 
must be answered with civilities, and seldom 
with confidence ; whatever you say is repeated ; 
there is no secret which does not expose you to 
some vexations. A stranger besides must never 
indulge in those effusions of the heart, in that 
rage for giving useful advice, which a remnant 
of Spanish pride considers as an affront. 

The less chaste conversation is, the more it 
pleases ; but the licence must be in the thought 
rather than in the expression, because the latter 



368 



TRAVELS IN THE 



leads to some punishment from the tribunal of 
penance, which is always dreaded. 

Some persons, even ecclesiastics, manifest 
extreme incredulity, while they shew the most 
absolute respect for the external ceremonies of 
religion. It is permitted to read the Guerre des 
Dieux, and the CEuvres de Boulanger, but not 
to miss a mass or a sermon ; for this reason, 
the Colombians always attend them.* 

When speaking of the energy and moral 
force of the inhabitants of the hot countries, the 
developement of the mental faculties was not 
meant. The burning heat of the torrid zone, and 
particularly the swarms of insects which afflict 
the countries comprehended in it, weaken and 
distract too much the attention of the mind, 
for it to pursue uninterruptedly those me- 
ditations which are the parents of great dis- 
coveries. The countries scorched by the tro- 
pical sun, are the native land of courage, lively 
gaiety, address and imitation ; such are the iierras 
calientes. Those which receive from beneficent 
nature a mild warmth, are the seat of the arts, 
taste and pensive melancholy ; such are the Andes. 

Hitherto the Colombians have been destitute 
of that enterprising energy of the Russian govern- 
ment, or of the people of the United States, 

* The men wear a golden cross on their breast, and the 
women a scapulary. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



369 



which, has raised those two countries in a few 
years, to the first rank among civilized nations. 
The government is not yet powerful enough to 
rouse the inhabitants from their Asiatic indo- 
lence, and the people are not sufficiently fond of 
foreigners, to invite them with cordiality, and to 
favour them by all possible means. However, 
if they do not like them, they take a pride in 
treating them well. They will transact business 
with a north American, but will prefer living 
with a Spanish American, because, if his man- 
ners are less frank, they are at least more pleas- 
ing. The defects and the vices of the Colom- 
bians are common to all nations who have not 
yet attained the same degree of civilisation which 
we have. With the exception of the political cri- 
mes they have committed by way of reprisal, we 
have no others to lay to their charge. 



2 B 



370 



TRAVELS IN THE 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Agriculture — Industry — Reflexions on the Banian tree — Mines — Coins- 
Salt-works — Commerce — Exportations — Importations. 

Agriculture^ which is followed with considera- 
ble activity, is so discouraged by the want of 
markets that the greatest part of the land remains 
uncultivated. 

The plough is introduced with effect in the 
plains of the cold lands ; in the warm vallies 
only the hoe is employed. 

Though estimated much higher, it is not 
thought that the produce of the lands yields 
above three per cent. A small number of lands 
only form an exception, and this from a peculiar 
circumstance : namely, that containing immense 
pastures, they rear much cattle, the sale of which 
brings in a considerable revenue. 

The fertility of the soil varies according to 
the elevation of the country. There are no ge- 
neral data on the value of the lands. Those 
which are already cultivated are, of course, more 
valuable, or worth more than those which are 
uncultivated ; they are likewise the best. Ne- 



REPUBLIC OF GOLOMBIA. 



371 



vertheless, it is thought that a piece of land fit 
for the growth of wheat, and the breeding of 
large cattle, which is thirty cords in length, and 
fifteen in breadth, would be worth in the cold 
region 1000 piastres, and in the warm one 200 
piastres. A cord is equal to 78 varas, and a vara 
to 37 Castilian inches. 

A corn estate, which, at the same time serves 
for the pasture of sheep, is valued in the cold 
parts at 500 piastres, in the hot regions at 100 
piastres, when it is 12 cords long and 6 broad. 

Formerly, a considerable estate has been sold 
for a mule completely harnessed. Bargains nearly 
similar are still made ; in a few years all will be 
changed. 

The richest farms are those in the neighbour- 
hood of the towns, particularly Bogota. The 
buildings are well constructed, and the barns 
appear to be tolerably well stocked : they might 
be much more so if less land were employed as 
pasturage. On the other hand, if the extent of 
the pastures were diminished, what would be- 
come of the troops of mules and horses, without 
which there could be no communication ? The 
ground is so rough and difficult that great num- 
ber of beasts of burden are necessary for the con- 
veyance of a few goods. From Bogota to Soga- 
moso, this inconvenience might be remedied by 
opening roads fit for wheeled carriages. 

Though cattle are very profitable, especially 

2 b 2 



372 



TRAVELS IN THE 



when they are procured from the plains, the in- 
habitants have not imitated the prudent conduct 
of the jesuits, who, to prevent the animals from 
suffering by the too sudden transition from the 
banks of the Meta to those of Bogota, had built, 
at intervals, farms, where they rested several 
days ; thus accustoming them by degrees to 
a climate so different from their own, and avoid- 
ing the enormous losses which occur every 
year,, and which are caused in a great measure, 
either by the cold, or by the shock of the stones 
of the high lands, which soon break the tender 
horns of the oxen of the plains. Horses are, of all 
the animals which traverse the paramos, the least 
liable to accidents. 

The cultivation of colonial articles is less 
perfect than that which we have called European 
cultivation ; though richer in its produce, it is 
much less profitable from the indolence of the 
planter. It is lamentable to see the negligence 
with which cotton, sugar, and cocoa are culti- 
vated ; the indifference with which coffee, indigo, 
and the nopal loaded with the cochineal insect, are 
suffered to grow without any care being bestowed 
on them. Happy in the abundance which he 
enjoys without labour, the planter contents him- 
self with hoeing round the foot of the banians, or 
cutting the sugar cane, with the juice of which 
he intoxicates himself. 

The present government of Colombia having 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



373 



felt the necessity of favouring agriculture by 
every possible means, had fixed, by a decree of 
the lith of October, 1821, a very moderate price 
on the sale of waste lands. It sold them at the 
rate of 2 piastres the fanega near the coast, and 
one piastre in the interior. 

The fanega of ground has been fixed at 100 
square varas, or 20 estadales ; consequently, at 
400 square estadales. Every estadale contains 4 
square varas. 

This liberality of the Colombian government 
has lately received fresh extension. The last 
congress has placed at the disposal of the go- 
vernment 2,000,000 of fanegas of land, to be dis- 
tributed gratuitously among foreign families who 
wish to establish themselves in the country, on 
condition that they shall clear them the same 
year in which they obtained the grant. 

Industry, whose productions here resemble 
those of Africa, being still fettered in the tram- 
mels of custom will never depart from the pre- 
sent course so long as foreign competition shall 
check the progress it might make. Besides, are 
manufactures so necessary in a country already 
sufficiently rich by its agricultural produce and its 
mines : If it added to the riches of its soil, per- 
fection in manufactures, its connexion with Eu- 
rope would cease. Would it then be necessary 
for the interest of the old world to establish it by 
force of arms ? 



374 



TRAVELS IN THE 



What will always oppose the prosperity of 
agriculture among the South Americans, when 
they have become independent, is the cultivation 
of the banian ; useful in temperate climates, be- 
cause it may contribute to the development of 
industry, by devoting to manufactures those arms 
which, in ruder countries, must be left for agri- 
culture, it is fatal in sultry climates where an 
excessive heat invites repose, by favouring the 
apathy natural to the inhabitants of the tropics. 

In the plains of America, the banian must 
produce the same effects as the date has caused 
in Africa ; it will make Bedouins in the west, as 
the latter has perpetuated those of the east. Can 
we help believing this, when we see the abundance 
of the fruits of this plant, the rapidity of its 
growth, and the facility of its cultivation ? 

Wherever man is not obliged to cultivate 
the earth for his support, he becomes a nomade ; 
on the other hand, wherever he has imposed 
upon himself the necessity of living upon sorgho, 
maize, rice, and other grain, whatever be the 
abundance of the harvest, he becomes attached to 
his field, he has a permanent abode. 

In those regions, on the other hand, where 
the milk of the cocoa, the cabbage of a palm, 
the fruit of a date, the gum of a mimosa, or the 
fruit of a fig, are sufficient to supply his table, he 
leads a wandering life, and has no attachment to 
any particular place. Why should he fix himself 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



375 



to any spot, when nature has every where provided 
for his subsistence ? He, therefore roams inces- 
santly; from time to time he sits down, rests him- 
self, takes some fruit from his leather bag, eats, 
goes to sleep, strikes his tent, and transports 
himself elsewhere. 

If the produce of the agriculture and manu- 
factures of the Colombians are uninteresting to 
Europe, and give it no reason to fear a compe- 
tition to its disadvantage, those of the mines 
may become important when they shall be 
worked by more skilful hands. It will then be 
very difficult for Europeans to sell to the Colom- 
bians copper, iron, and lead, when the latter 
shall extract these in sufficient quantity from the 
mountains of Opon, Truxillo, Moniquira, and 
Guanacas ; # when the manner of working the 
gold and silver mines of Mariquita is improved, 
their produce will be tripled ; a result of which 
the country has the more need, because, dealing 
with only one people, the English, who will 
hardly receive any goods, they have no means of 
paying them but with the precious metals, before 
extracted from the earth by the Spaniards. They 
are transferred, therefore, to Jamaica, and with 
such rapidity, that in a short time in the land of 
gold not a grain will be found. 

The mines of Choco and Popayan are still 



* See note XVII. 



376 



TRAVELS IN THE 



worked, but in an imperfect manner; the ne- 
groes, every moment ready to become soldiers, 
leave the finest establishments to fall off. A 
mine which employs 60 slaves, and produces 
20 pounds of gold annually, is considered a good 
estate. 

Before the revolution of South America, the 



mints of New Grenada produced 


• 


Santa-Fe. 




Popayan. 




Piastres. 


1801 


1,506,356 


962,748 


1802 


1,240,476 


962,748 


1803 


1,192,791 


965,686 


1804 


1,274,576 


663,696 




5,214,199* 


3,554,878 



The quantity of gold which the English draw 
from the country, and which is still considerable, 
notwithstanding the diminution of the produce 
of the mines, should not excite surprise, when we 
recollect that a great part of it is derived from 
the melting of trinkets and of plate, which every 
one disposes of/f* 



* Vide note XVIII. 

f There is a great deal of base money in the country ; a 
large proportion of the small coin called pesetas are counter- 
feit ; it is to be observed that they come from Jamaica and 
Curasao. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



377 



Several provinces produce gold. Hitherto 
this metal has been discovered in the greatest 
quantity in the western Cordillera, and chiefly 
near the coasts of the Pacific ; Santa-Fe, how- 
ever, receives a considerable quantity from Pa al- 
pha na and Giron ; the last is the most esteemed, 
and as much as twenty reals the castillan are paid 
for it. The province of Antioquia is full of 
it ; its mines were formerly very productive ; the 
gold was in demand, and though of a low degree 
of fineness, (18 carats) produced sixteen reals the 
castillan. 

In the province of Antioquia a great quan- 
tity of a very low standard is collected, it is 
called oro hajo, and fetches only from three to 
six reals per castillan. 

It has been observed that gold is usually found 
at a moderate elevation ; Pampluna, however, 
borders on the region of the paramos ; and Santa- 
Rosa, in the province of Antioquia, is 1324 toises 
above the level of the sea. In general the mines 
of Choco and Barbacoas are esteemed the richest ; 
those of the Cauca, though abundant, are much 
less so ; it seems that in Choco the great quantity 
of gold injures its quality. This metal, almost 
always united with platina, seldom fetches more 
than twelve reals the castillan. 

Mines of silver are not less common in all 
these countries. Those of Mariquita are the most 
celebrated ; many other places contain them, 



378 



TRAVELS IN THE 



such as Pampluna, Leyva, and the country in 
which the town of la Plata (silver) is situated, 
which is said to have received its name from the 
mines discovered there. We have explained the 
motives which induced Spain to close these 
mines ; they have ceased with the present govern- 
ment, and accordingly several Englishmen have 
already thought of working those of Mariquita ; 
for foreigners have the same liberty as the natives 
of possessing and working the mines. 

Mines of iron, copper, and lead, are very 
common, only the two latter are worked with any 
degree of care, the former are absolutely ne- 
glected. 

Emerald mines have been opened at Muzos, 
and a considerable quantity with which the Ma- 
donas in the churches are still loaded, had been 
extracted from them, when Spain prohibited 
working of them to be continued, without any 
other assignable motive than jealousy. 

Other precious stones are likewise found, 
such as cornelians, agates, &c. 

Pampluna is famous for its quarries of Mica, 
and Zipaquira for its salt mine *. 

This mine, like most of those of the same 
kind, is situated at the foot of a paramo. It has 
a striking appearance. The salt, like an immense 
rock of crystal, shines with dazzling splendor 



* See Note XIX. 



RK PUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



379 



when the rays of the sun come in contact with its 
prisms. It is very difficult to extract it ; it being 
only by means of iron crows that some pieces 
can be loosened. These are immediately thrown 
into a pool of water which the rain forms at the 
foot of the mine. The water is conveyed through 
clay pipes into the manufactories, where it is 
boiled for a day and a night to evaporate the sul- 
phureous particles. For this operation they use 
earthen vessels of the same shape, though of dif- 
ferent sizes. The largest cost a real ; they can 
be used but once. The miners are generally In- 
dians, assisted by negroes. This is almost an 
hereditary occupation among them, since they 
were the first who opened this valuable mine ; they 
employ, in the present day, the same process as 
they formerly used, the rudest that can well be 
imagined. 

The mine of Zipaquira is not the only one. 
There are also those of Tauza and Enemocon^ 
situated in a similar soil, and all three inex- 
haustible ; the salt of Enemocon is the most 
esteemed. 

The salt of Zipaquira is usually sold at from 
six to seven reals the arroba (25 pounds) ; the 
quantity sold is very inconsiderable. 

The produce of the mine of Zipaquira, which 
is badly worked, and the expences of which are 
enormous, on account of the purchase of the earthen 
vessels and the wood, which is procured from a 



380 



TRAVELS IN THE 



great distance, the surrounding country being 
entirely destitute of it, amounts to nearly 150,000 
piastres per annum. The expences of manage- 
ment are not included in this calculation. There 
are so many salt mines in the country, that 
when they are opened, this revenue will be less 
profitable. 

An Englishman of the name of Thompson, un- 
der pretence of improving the system of working 
the mines hitherto pursued in that of Zipaquira, 
has obtained an exclusive right to it, on engag- 
ing to pay the government five thousand piastres 
a month. 

The inland trade is tolerably active ; though 
the individual transactions are of not much im- 
portance, this is made up for by the uninter- 
rupted course of commerce, for instance, there is 
none more brisk than the salt trade ; in the 
antient viceroyalty it is a coin as current as 
money, the value of which being almost inva- 
riable, serves as a standard in all bargains. 
There is no exchange more frequent and lu- 
crative than that of salt for sugar and stuffs. 

Few mercantile speculations are attempted 
unless they hold out a profit of a hundred per 
cent ; this is the only incitement to surmount 
the fatigues of the roads. 

Next to salt, cocoa is the most important 
article of merchandise ; the consumption of it is 
as prodigious as the quantity produced. That of 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



381 



the Magdalena is in the greatest demand ; that of 
Neyva and Timana sells at thirty piastres the 
load of ten arrobas ; at Antioquia it costs forty 
piastres, and at Carthagena fifty, on account of 
the expenses of carriage. Cucuta furnishes a 
considerable quantity, which is sent to Europe 
by way of Maracai'bo ; that of Guayaquil, which 
is exported to Peru and Mexico, enriches the 
merchants of that port. 

Flour, the price of which at Bogota is ten 
piastres the load (20 arrobas), is neither in suffi- 
ciently large quantities, nor of a quality good 
enough to be sent to the ports of the republic, 
and to compete with the fine flour of North 
America, which maybe had there at 10 piastres 
the barrel. 

Sugar, though very abundant, is almost 
entirely consumed in the country itself, as the 
Spaniards are very fond of it. It may be pre- 
sumed, however, from the low price of the sugar 
of Socorro, Guaduas, and the Cauca, that, if the 
cultivation were more judiciously managed, and 
the roads better, it would be possible by hav- 
ing it from the provinces of the interior, to ob- 
tain it cheaper at Panama, Carthagena, and in 
the other ports, where it is as high as four reals 
the pound, while in the interior it only costs from 
five to ten reals the arroba. 

Coffee being little cultivated and little 
esteemed by the inhabitants of the interior of the 
Cordilleras, is at present to be met with only in 



382 



TRAVELS IN THE 



the apothecaries' shops ; it is worth as much as 
two reals a pound, while twenty times as much 
might be collected in the country as is produced 
by the whole crops of Jamaica. 

Tobacco being in universal use among the 
Spanish Americans, is in general of a good qua- 
lity ; for, they have endeavoured to perfect 
the cultivation of this plant from taste rather 
than profit. The tobacco of the Cauca is the 
most esteemed ; that of Giron, Ambalema, and 
Varinas, which is neither so strong nor so rough, 
is more agreeable to Europeans. 

The Dutch formerly transported 10,000 
quintals of tobacco from Varinas, which they 
sold under the name of Dutch tobacco. 

The government has the monopoly of to- 
bacco : it purchases it of the planter at half a 
real a pound, and sells it again at two reals. The 
exportation of this article, were it relieved 
from the monopoly, would yield four times as 
much to the state by the duties, for the line of its 
custom-houses, though badly guarded, is still 
better than that of the droits reunis, 

The government has ordered, by a law, that 
the overplus should be sent to the nearest ports 
to be sold to foreigners ; notwithstanding this 
prudent regulation, it is rare to meet with any 
other tobacco than that from the Havannah and 
the United States. 

Cotton, which is ill cultivated, is almost 
entirely consumed in the country itself, and 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



383 



scarcely suffices to load five or six ships which 
come to Carthagena or Santa-Martha. In Ca- 
racas, where the culture of it is more attended to, 
it is one of the chief articles of exportation. Im- 
mense fields will, in future, be covered with this 
valuable article. 

Quinquina of Loxa, which is brought from 
Guayaquil, forms one of the most productive 
branches of commerce in this province. As much 
as ten thousand loads have been exported in one 
year. This quantity has of course diminished, 
since that from the upper part of the Magdalena 
has been found to be equal in quality. The 
quinquina of Loxa will be much less in request 
when that of Pitai'on becomes an article of foreign 
commerce. 

The dying woods are a principal object of 
maritime commerce ; they are the only produc- 
tions which the English take in exchange for 
their manufactures. 

The skins of leather, destined to pack up cocoa 
or to form the beds of the inhabitants, are scarce 
in the Cordilleras ; though formerly common in 
Caracas, since fifty thousand were annually ex- 
ported from the port of La Guayra, the num- 
ber has considerably decreased during the war. 
Besides this, the expences of carriage prodigiously 
increase the price in several places ; for those 
purchased at four reals on the Magdalena, cost 
from twelve to fourteen reals at Carthagena. 



384 



TRAVELS IN THE 



The English purchase a great deal of tor- 
toise-shell in the gulph of Darien, in the isles of 
$an-Blas, and on the coasts of Choco ; it seldom 
costs above four piastres the pound, and may be 
had in considerable quantities. 

Pearls, which Europeans suppose constitute 
the riches of these countries, produce but a very 
small revenue ; it is calculated that Panama 
does not export more than what amounts to 
about forty thousand piastres annually ; Rio-Ha- 
cha, perhaps, does not produce so much. 

Mother of pearl, which, for some years past, 
has been brought into competition with that of the 
east, and which was sold at 10 piastres the 
thousand, is no longer in demand. 

The pearl fishery, from the Rio~Hacha to 
King George's Islands in the Pacific, has been 
granted to Cochrane's nephew to render it more 
productive ; the English will soon have their 
bells, divers, and the fishery will doubtless in 
a short time be wholly in their hands*. 

Proceeding to a more general view of the ex- 
portations of Colombia, we shall see that those of 
the provinces of Venezuela, which formerly 
amounted to 4,400,000 piastres, have diminished 
of late years. This is proved by the number of 

* They will perhaps realise the project of an inhabitant of 
Guayaquil, fetching divers from the Friendly Islands, and em- 
ploying them in the pearl fishery of Panama. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 385 

vessels which enter the port of la Guayra *. In 
1809, it amounted to 338, while, in 1823, there 
were only 228 ; on the other hand, the exporta- 
tion, which, from this one place, amounted be- 
fore the revolution to 2,805,225, are at present 
only 2,296,908. The reader is, of course, aware 
that these calculations are only approximate. 

The war, by dispersing the slaves, has ruined 
many estates ; however, a considerable quantity 
of cocoa, coffee, indigo, cotton, copper, oxen, 
mules, and horses, are still exported from Cara- 
cas. Guayana, which is a dependency of this 
province, furnishes besides a great deal of capai- 
va balsam ; and Varinas, nearly 10,000 quintals of 
excellent tobacco 

The exportations of New Grenada have like- 
wise experienced some diminution; speaking be- 
fore of the revenues of Colombia, 1 estimated 
them, like those of the province of Venezuela, 
at 4,000,000 piastres J. This sum is rather that of 
the produce which might easily be drawn from 
the country, than of the real exports, since seve- 
ral authors agree in estimating the exports of 
New Grenada at only 2,500,000 piastres ; how- 
ever, if we consider the prodigious quantity of 

* This is known to be the most frequented port in the 
province of Venezuela. 

f Native carbonate of soda is employed in the preparation 
of tobacco. 

% Vide Note XX. 

2 c 



386 



TRAVELS IN THE 



sugar lost by the bad process of the distillation of 
brandy, the cotton and indigo employed by the 
manufacturers of the country, who consume a 
great deal more than is necessary for the manufac- 
ture of their goods, and, lastly, if we consider the 
great number of fanegas of cocoa sent to the pro- 
vinces in the plains, and which is paid for in 
cattle and other produce, it will be admitted that, 
on the one hand, the enormous losses caused by 
the ignorance of the farmers and manufacturers, 
and on the other, the barter lately introduced be- 
tween New Grenada and Caracas, and the north- 
ern provinces of Peru, may, without any fear 
of exaggeration, allow us to estimate the exports 
of i\ew Grenada in prosperous years at four mil- 
lions of piastres. Nevertheless, it is thought that 
three-eighths only of this amount find their way 
into foreign hands. 

This state of things will long continue ; it 
costs Colombia 500,000 piastres annually, or 
25,000^000 francs in ten years ; this is the half of 
the gold and silver in plate and coin which the 
country possessed before the revolution. If this 
large sum, which has gone to England to pay the 
balance of the importations and exportations, 
has caused much misery in New Grenada, it may, 
in the sequel, produce great advantages, and in 
the following manner. Of the four millions of 
colonial goods which the country produces, 
three-eighths go to foreigners ; three other eighths 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



387 



are employed to the great detriment of commerce, 
on account of the deficiency of the Colombians in 
the knowledge of chemistry and mechanics; lastly, 
the two remaining eighths go to the inhabitants 
of the plains. The partiality of the latter for 
sugar and cocoa, and the eagerness of the inhabi- 
tants of the Andes to possess cattle will perpe- 
tuate the commercial relations between these two 
people ; they will continue, notwithstanding the 
peace with Spain, and the facility of finding 
other markets. The millions of piastres of colo- 
nial productions, which, in consequence of the 
war, go to the plains, will not be restored to 
foreign commerce ; but the necessity of sup- 
plying the demand of Europe, and of restor- 
ing the balance between the exports and imports, 
will doubtless give a new stimulus to agricul- 
ture. 

In general, I think that the exportations of 
New Grenada have suffered, since the revolution, 
an annual diminution of 500,000 piastres ; while, 
before, they exceeded the imports by an equal 
sum, since, instead of having to make the ba- 
lance of its commerce in money, Colombia re- 
ceived, on the contrary, large sums from Mexico 
through the medium of Spain *. 

* Colonial produce has risen in price in the ports of Co- 
lombia since the revolution, only because it has become more 
scarce. This clearness, therefore, has prevented the difference 
between the imports and exports from being under that which I 
have stated. 

2 c 2 



388 



TRAVELS IN THE 



The English of Jamaica carry on almost the 
whole of the import trade ; it may amount to 
eight millions of piastres ; a great part is paid in 
money, because, besides the reasons I have given 
above, the natives of South America, the only 
traders who make voyages to Jamaica, where the 
purchases of manufactures are made, find it much 
more convenient to conclude their bargains upon 
credit, or to deal for ready money, than to have 
the trouble of making up a cargo at home. They 
do not understand, like the Spaniards, the mode 
of selling their goods by retail ; Caracas has re- 
tained the barter trade in preference to New Gre- 
nada, because more foreigners visit its ports. 
Guayaquil enjoys the same advantage. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 389 



List of the Merchandise consumed in the republic of 

Colombia * 







PRICE 


PRICE 


ARTICLES 




at 




at Santa-Fe 






Jamaica. 


de Bogota. 






f. c. 


I. c. 


I- c. 


t. c. 


Fine Cloth 5/4 blue and black # 


P yard 30 to 


35 


65 


to 70 


do. 5/4 crimson 


do. 


do. 






ao. 


do. 5/4 second blue and black do. 


17 


18 


35 


38 


do. 3/4 ordinary do. 


do. 


7 50 


8 


14 


lo 


FineCasimirs 3/4 sorted colours 


do. 


10 


11 


It) 


17 


do. 3/4 second ditto 


do. 


4 50 


5 


8 50 


9 






. 55 


60 


80 


yu 






. 30 


35 


. 60 


65 






. 19 


20 


30 


35 


Blue ditto 5/4 15 ells, do 




. 25 


30 


45 


50 


do. 3/4 ^ ell 




. 2 50 


3 


4 50 


5 






. 3 


3 50 


5 


5 50 






. 7 


8 


14 


15 






. 4 50 


5 


11 


1 o 
12 






. 3 50 


4 


6 50 


7 






ft 


5 25 


8 50 


9 


Printed cottons of fine colours, 20 ells, Q 


Apiece 25 


25 50 


40 


45 


do. ordinary 


do. 


15 


15 50 


25 


30 


Ribbons fig. sorted, 24 ells, No. 1 to 3, $ 


y piece 2 


10 


3 50 


OA 


do. Satin No. 1 to 6, 


do. 


7 


12 


10 


OA 


Silk twisted, crimson, blue and black if^ 


lb... 


. 15 


16 


35 


A(\ 

4U 


Handkerchiefs of white muslin, ffl dozen 


. 15 50 


16 


25 


30 


do. ordinary do . . 




. 3 


3 50 


5 


o 


Shawls of painted calico, 5/4 do. . 




60 


65 


90 


1 HA 
1UU 










40 


45 


Bretagne of cotton, 4 ells, & piece . . 






2 25 


3 


3 50 






. 18 


20 


30 


35 


Handkerchiefs cotton, coloured, dozen . . 


. 15 


16 


25 


30 






. 60 


65 


100 


110 






. 15 


18 


30 


40 








160 


320 


350 






. 25 


30 


50 


60 






. 20 




40 


50 






. 20 




35 


40 






. 25 




80 








. 40 


50 


100 


120 


Steel, do 




. 55 


60 


140 


150 






. 60 


75 


150 


170 






.150 


165 


350 


375 


Wines dry, Spanish, demigan of 20 bottl 


es. . . 


. 25 


30 


100 


120 


Wines of Bourdeaux, the box of 25 bottles . . 


. 25 




80 


90 










300 


350 










40 


50 






. 96 




168 




Velvet, cotton, ^ ell 




. 3 




6 












40 





* The daily fluctuation in the exchange has determined the translator not to 
reduce these prices to English money — Translator. 



390 



TRAVELS IN THE 



Such are the goods most generally in de- 
mand, and the sale of which is most certain. 

An assortment of hardware would yield con- 
siderable profit: for, in this country they have 
neither pick-axes, shovels, spades, nor locks ; 
they receive from abroad files, saws, hammers, 
&c. &c * - 

Articles of luxury are still too dear for the 
inhabitants, whether they have been really mined 
by the wars, or whether the loss of a portion of 
their property, in consequence of the revolution, 
has induced them to conceal a part of it, in 
order to save it from the rapacity of the mili- 
tary or the demands of government. The ladies 
of the capital do not buy fifty shawls, and twenty 
pieces of silk in a year ; they purchase nothing but 
false jewels and trinkets. A great proportion 
of the people clothe themselves in cottons or 
woollens made in the country. 

The coin is the same as that which was 
current in the time of the Spanish government. 
They have began however to substitute others 
in their stead ; the silver money coined now is of 
a lower standard than the old coin. The standard 
of the gold coin is said not to have been lowered ; 
copper to the amount of 1,200,000 piastres has 
just been coined, it is the first money of that 
metal seen in this country. 



* Vide note XXII. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



391 



AH the maritime commerce is carried on in 
the ports of Guayra, Rio-Hacha, Santa-Martha, 
Carthagena, Chagres, Porto-Bello, Panama and 
Guayaquil. Foreigners do not much frequent 
San-Tome, Puerto Cabello, Maracaibo, on the 
Gulf of Mexico, and San-Buenaventura on the 
Pacific. 

The English — in appointing consuls at Guay- 
ra, the port of Venezuela; at Maracaibo, one of the 
principal issues of the Cordillera ; at Carthagena, 
the port of the Magdalena; at Panama, the key of 
the Pacific — have therefore taken the most judi- 
cious course ; it is surprising they have not sent 
any to San Tome and Guayaquil. 

Some French vessels, a pretty considerable 
number of North Americans with cargoes of 
flower, salt fish, and deals, enter into competition 
with the English ; the vessels of the latter, after 
having landed the merchandize they bring, re- 
turn with balast, but carrying away the gold and 
silver, the spoils of America.* 

The fear of pirates, who are numerous in the 
Archipelagos along the coast of America, from 
Darien to the Rio-Bravo, the infrequent com- 
munication between the several provinces, the 
scarcity of produce, and the facility which the 
English ships afford, prevent the coasting trade 
between the ports on the gulf of Mexico ; it is 



* Vide note XXII. 



392 



TRAVELS IN THE 



carried on with activity only on the Pacific, and 
even there not by the Colombians. Ships from 
Peru laden with onions, garlick, scallions, and 
straw hats go to Panama, where they take in return 
English goods which they convey to their own 
country. Without this assistance in the Pacific, 
without that of the English in the gulf of 
Mexico and the Atlantic, would it be possible to 
carry on an intercourse with the departments in 
canoes, which are in general the only vessels the 
Colombians possess ? 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Communication by land and water — Commercial laws. 

The impediments to the internal communications 
are much greater. By land they are obstructed 
by precipices, swamps and dangers of every des- 
cription ; the more important the roads are, the 
worse is their condition, because, though con- 
stantly frequented, they are never repaired. Thus 
the most disagreeable are those which lead to 
the capital, and those from the Cauca to the Paci- 
fic, and from Panama to Cruces. 

The expenses of carriage are for this rea- 
son, triple what they ought to be, so that these 
charges may be estimated at thirty-five per cent 
upon the goods sent from Carthagena to Bogota. 
They are counterbalanced, it is true, by the diffe- 
rence of measure, which is forty per cent in our 
favour and eight per cent for the English, when 
they sell according to the invoice price, because 
the same price is asked for the vara, as for the 
French ell, or for the yard. 

Let the reader conceive roads, marked out 
by the rains, opened by earthquakes, hollowed 
out by torrents ; the only mode of travelling in 



394 



TRAVELS IN THE 



them is on mules, and in some places on oxen, 
whose firm tread enables them to get out of 
the deep marshes where they sink at every 
step ; in some parts even this animal is useless, 
and then recourse must be had to men, on whose 
backs you may travel at a small expence, not- 
withstanding the horrible sufferings of these poor 
people. It is thus that you traverse the Quindiu, 
and the Cordilleras which separate the Cauca 
from the Pacific. 

All the royal roads have been cleared of the 
trees which obstruct the passage. For this im- 
portant service we are indebted to Spain ; it does 
not remedy a thousand other inconveniences of 
which we will give an idea. 

In some places the mountains are so steep, 
that the most ingenious method which has oc- 
curred to facilitate the rapid descent, has been to 
make the road in a zig zag, and in several parts 
to cut steps which form a staircase as narrow 
and steep as some in those of our steeples ; yet 
they must be descended on horseback. 

At every step you meet with vallies, and in 
every valley, torrents. The communication be- 
tween the two banks is formed by bridges made 
of two trees, across which are thrown fascines co- 
vered with a slight layer of earth. This rude 
work trembles and seems ready to sink, there is 
no rail, and, by a singular coincidence, none of 
these bridges are more than four feet wide. If 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



395 



one of the rotten supports of these serial bridges 
were to break under the horse's feet, the animal, in 
its struggles, would drag the rider into the abyss 
below, where he would perish on the pointed 
rocks. Yet such is the security arising from habit, 
that people pass over these frail bridges by night 
as well as by day, and without even feeling the 
least alarm at hearing the roaring of the waters 
falling from one cascade to another. 

After passing these bridges we generally find 
marshy tracts ; man endeavours to improve them 
with trunks of trees, but he generally fails. 

It is inconceivable that, after twelve years' 
war, neither of the two parties should have made 
a military road. In fact, armies led by able 
chiefs against barbarous countries, either to pene- 
trate into or to secure the possession of them, 
leave them as a consolation for the ravages which 
they have occasioned, roads and bridges which 
serve the purposes of commerce, to introduce in 
the sequel intelligence and riches. The wars which 
have taken place in the territory of Colom- 
bia, having been merely affairs of partizans, the 
rocks, the thickets of trees, the bad roads, served 
instead of forts, where the troops placed them- 
selves in ambush ; besides, soldiers without bag- 
gage, without a train, having only flying artillery, 
need only foot-paths to travel in ; hence, therefore, 
it has been thought useless to widen those in Co- 
lombia. Morillo, however, has very much im- 



396 



TRAVELS IN THE 



proved some of them, particularly that which 
goes from Santa-Fe, by way of Cakesa to the Lla- 
nos, and that from the capital to the Magdalena. 
Occupied by the affairs of the war, this general 
neglected many others of the highest importance. 
For instance, the dangerous navigation of the 
Magdalena, would have been facilitated by opening 
to commerce a shorter and safer road by land, 
between Guarumo and Guaduas. The other made 
to the east of Bogota, by way of Choachi, would 
have afforded the means of travelling in three days 
to the banks of the Meta, whence it would have 
taken less than thirty days to reach the mouth of 
the Oronooko. Lastly, the third, rendered more 
practicable between the capital and the Zulia, 
would have enabled travellers to follow the road 
of the Cordillera which is always healthy. 

The present government has become sensible 
of part of these advantages, and has, in conse- 
quence, specified in a licence, granted to a Ger- 
man, for the establishment of steam boats, that 
he should make a road from Guaduas to Gua- 
rumo. This plan is not, however, without diffi- 
culties, though all the ground belongs to Colonel 
d'Acosta, who is a friend to the improvements, 
which would lessen the obstacles ; the difficulty 
lies in the choice of three paths, which now serve 
for the purpose of communication, and which 
will require infinite labour to form a more com- 
modious road than those which at present exist. 







REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 397 

These roads seem less frightful to those who 
have travelled by water ; however, the inconve- 
nience experienced on the rivers, arises less from 
the sufferings you experience than from the men 
you have for companions. 

The principal rivers which are navigable, or 
which have become so by the use of very light 
boats, are the Magdalena, the Oronooko, the Zu- 
lia, the Cauca, the Atrato, the Dagua, which falls 
into the Pacific, near San-Buenaventura, and the 
Chagres, which empties itself into the Gulf of 
Mexico. All these rivers present the same rude 
appearance, the navigation on them is the same, 
whence it may be supposed, that the description 
of the navigation on the Magdalena will answer 
that of the Oronooko and the Zulia. 

It is by the Magdalena that the provinces of 
Neyva, Popayan, Mariquita, Antioquia, Santa- 
Martha, and Carthagena, communicate with each 
other. The breadth and depth of the river would 
allow large vessels to ascend it as far as Nare 
when the water is low, and as far as Honda in 
the rainy season. It is doubted whether they 
could go, as the champans do, as far as Neyva, 
because the latter employ twenty days from 
Honda to that place, and they too are towed. 

The sand banks which obstruct and confine 
the river in many places, will doubtless greatly 
impede the navigation of large vessels, such as 
steam-boats, as is sufficiently proved by the acci- 



398 



TRAVELS IN THE 



dent that happened at Garapata, to a small boat 
from Santa-Martha, which was swamped by dash- 
ing against the trunk of a tree. 

As for the banks which obstruct the naviga- 
tion of the Magdalena, it would be necessary, in 
order to overcome this obstacle, to diminish the 
great canal of navigation, and to change it into 
a canal for commerce, for the multiplicity of its 
arms, fertilizing a great extent of country, ren- 
ders its bed less deep, and, consequently, the na- 
vigation more insecure. Thus, at the place where 
the waters ought to be the most abundant, in 
consequence of the streams which flow into them 
from all sides, a prodigious quantity is lost by 
the drains which conduct them into the interior. 
Lastly, imitating the care which nature takes to 
clear the banks of the river, by various means, the 
axe should be used on its shores, which are over- 
grown with trees and verdure, and those trunks 
and rocks removed which it is often necessary to 
approach in order to escape the currents. The 
license granted to the owner of the steam-boats 
will be useful, and these vessels, when introduced 
by his care on the Magdalena, will render a 
voyage upon that river less frightful to a European, 
by affording him comforts calculated to lighten 
the fatigues of such a navigation. The establish- 
ment of steam-boats upon the Magdalena presents 
great advantages ; they will hasten the period 
when the commerce and agriculture of the pro- 



REPUBLIC OP COLOMBIA. 



399 



vinces of Cordilleras shall be improved by render- 
ing that river the canal by which the rich pro- 
duce of the bowels of the earth, and those of the 
soil shall descend towards the Gulf of Mexico, 
whilst the Oronooko carries those of the plains 
of Casanare and Guyana, to the Ocean. 

The only craft employed on the Magdalena, 
are piraguas and champans. The former are ge- 
nerally employed by travellers, who are not much 
incommoded with baggage, and government cou- 
riers ; they are only trees hollowed out with an 
axe ; a piragua from sixteen to twenty varas in 
length costs two hundred piastres ; it will not 
contain more than twenty loads. 

Those which are engaged at Barranca, or at 
Santa-Martha, do not go beyond Monpox, and 
employ three days in ascending from the sea- 
coast to that town ; and more than twenty, to 
go from thence to Honda. 

Champans are employed in the conveyance 
of merchandize ; they are boats of considerable 
size, about the dimensions of the fruit boats, used 
on the Seine in autumn ; they are covered in 
with bamboos, to preserve the cargo from rain ; 
this roof also serves the bogas as a deck, on which 
they place themselves to push the boat along with 
their poles. A champan usually carries a hun- 
dred loads, which, from Monpox to Honda, pay 
each ten piastres for freight. The crew of a 
champan, consists of twenty-four bogas, at the 



400 



TRAVELS IN THE 



rate of twenty piastres each. In addition to 
which there is the keep of the men, and the 
hire of the boat, which is about four piastres 
a day. It is frequently more than a month before 
they reach Honda. 

These means of transport, are therefore very 
inconvenient and expensive, both from the time 
lost in passing the rapids of the Magdalena, and 
the idleness of the undisciplined bogas. 

These men should occupy the last place in 
the classification of the human race. They are 
a mixture of individuals of every colour, who 
have retained nothing but the vices of their res- 
pective casts ; when discontented with their 
passenger, they sometimes abandon him on the 
shore, and, flying into the woods, leave him in 
a state of the most cruel embarrassment. 

The same boats, and the same men are found 
on the other rivers : if some of these present a 
more dangerous navigation than that of the 
Magdalena, there are others where less risk 
is run. 

The Cauca, which traverses the western Cor- 
dillera, and waters its rich vallies, is only na- 
vigable as far as Carthagena, where the mountains 
contract its stream, and fill it with rocks and 
trunks of trees. If the rocks which obstruct its 
course lower down, could be surmounted, the 
importance of the Magdalena would be doubly 
increased, since it would receive by the Cauca, 



V 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 401 

its principal tributary, all the agricultural riches, 
which grow in wonderful abundance, from 
Popayan as far as Anserma. The Nare, which 
now forms the most direct communication between 
Antioquia and the Magdalena, would no longer 
be exclusively that of this province and of the 
river. 

One of the most important roads is that 
which leads from Cali to the Pacific, by the 
way of San-Buenaventura ; the route by land is 
so bad, that, in general, men are employed in 
carrying the loads ; the river, which is afterwards 
to be descended, is nothing but a torrent so full 
of rocks, that life is risked almost every instant ; 
the piraguas which are used here, are therefore 
very small, and lightly laden. 

The Zulia is a magnificent stream, but of 
inconsiderable length, which flows between Ma- 
raca'ibo and Cucuta,* whose commerce in cocoa 
is very great. This river will one day be the ob- 
ject of the improvements of a firmer and more 
enlightened government ; some Englishmen, al- 
ready anticipating its advantages, have solicited 
permission to establish steam boats upon it ; 
but their offers have not yet been accepted. 

The Oronooko, the finest river in Colom- 
bia, has its banks, like those of the Magdalena, 
almost desert ; its navigation is likewise in the 

* These towns are at a distance from each other of nine 
days' journey. 

2 D 



402 



TRAVELS IN THE 



hands of rude and ignorant sailors. This river 
presents the double advantage of having a wide 
and deep stream, and of discharging itself into the 
Atlantic ; this insures it a great superiority over 
the Magdalena obstructed with rocks, and which 
besides, discharges its waters into the Gulf of 
Mexico, so dangerous, both for the tempests 
which so often rage there, and the corsairs who 
conceal themselves in the immense archipelago 
by which it is bounded on the west, of which al- 
most all the passages are in possession of the 
English. Who knows even if the Oronooko shall 
not be one day the only means of communication 
between the Ocean and the Cordillera ? 

The English, who let no opportunity slip of 
establishing their influence, have entreated a li- 
cence for ten years, in order to establish steam 
boats upon the Oronooko. 

The Atrato concludes the list of the most im- 
portant rivers of Colombia. This river was on 
the point of depriving Panama of a part of the 
commerce of the great Ocean. If the govern- 
ment, less embarrassed, had been able to effect 
the junction of the Atrato and the river San- 
Juan, it would have procured the country incal- 
culable riches ; but this public work having 
been intrusted to a person totally destitute of the 
necessary ability and information, gradually lan- 
guished, and was at length abandoned. 

It was thought in France that Colombia in- 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



403 



tended opening* a canal, to effect the communi- 
cation of the two seas by the Isthmus of Pana- 
ma ; but this republic is not sufficiently rich to 
undertake so expensive and difficult an enter- 
prise. On the other hand the execution of it 
would be injudicious, as the territory might then 
be traversed without the necessity of asking per- 
mission from the government, and perhaps with- 
out paying it any duty. 

The English have caused the practibility of 
this junction to be examined. The result of 
their observations is unknown ; it is presumed 
that they are interested in opposing the opening 
of a canal which might hurt their vast Indian 
establishments. The opinion of the natives is, 
that it would be easy to dig a canal for the pas- 
sage of piraguas, but that it would be impossible 
to execute one sufficiently large to receive ships 
of burthen. 

Such is the exact state of the routes and in- 
terior means of communication of Colombia. The 
roads are generally travelled with safety ; it is an 
observation greatly in favour of the inhabitants, 
that after so many civil wars, not a robber is to 
be met with; travellers are rarely molested. 

The inns are generally situated in places 
where there is water and grass ; and often there is 
nothing else. This is generally the case on the bor- 
ders of the Magdalena, continually ravaged by the 
troops ; every where else, fowls, eggs, bananas, and 

2 d 2 



404 



TRAVELS IN THE 



chicha, are to be procured. An ox's hide, or a 
mat, is the usuai bed, rarely any other ; property 
is respected, although the doors are without locks 
or bolts. In what part of Europe could one 
leave the most valuable effects under no other 
protection but a bit of cord, and sleep alone, in 
the midst of forests, surrounded with objects cal- 
culated to tempt cupidity to the utmost ? The 
present government has promulgated several 
laws, which it has thought may encourage the 
national industry. For example, it has reduced 
to two and a half per cent the duty to be paid 
by all foreign merchandize sold in the interior 
of the country, and to six per cent that which 
foreigners were to pay, who wished to sell their 
own goods. If a consignment be made to a mer- 
chant of the country, the duty is wholly taken off. 
In every case it is not paid till after the sale of 
the goods. The duty of anchorage is a half pias- 
tre per ton. The Colombian ton, like the French, 
is about twenty quintals.* This duty must be 
paid at the latest, ten days after the arrival of the 
vessel in port. The want of warlike stores has 
caused to be exempted from all duty, the shot, 
guns, and ammunition brought into the republic, 
and a diminution of five per cent upon the duties 
for all merchandize brought by ships laden with 
arms. 

Lastly, to favour the progress of the sciences. 

* About one ton. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



405 



they have exempted from all taxation, 1°, phi- 
losophical and mathematical instruments ; geo- 
graphical maps, printed books, engravings, pic- 
tures, statues, collections of antiquities, busts 
and medals, 

2°, Agricultural instruments, plants and 
seeds, machines and instruments used in work- 
ing gold, silver, platina, mercury, copper, and 
steel ; those which may be employed in the im- 
provement of the navigation of rivers, and the 
cotton and woollen manufactures ; printing pres- 
ses, gold, silver, and all the precious metals. 

By other decrees, the introduction of foreign 
tobaccos has been prohibited, although they were 
at first allowed upon paying a duty of 50 per 
cent. The importation of foreign coffee, indigo, 
sugar and molasses is likewise forbidden, and, 
on the other hand, the exportation of platina and 
gold, either in dust or bars. 

The coasting trade is exclusively reserved 
to the natives of the country. Foreigners can 
only convey from one port to another the mer- 
chandizes they have brought, and which are 
specified in their bills of lading. 

The custom house code is reduced to two 
laws, one called that of exportation, the other of 
importation : this last was decreed the 2nd of 
August 1823 ; the following table includes all the 
details. 



406 TRAVELS LN THE 

Statement of the Entry Duties. 



MERCHANDISES. 



Imported 
from the Co- 
lonies on 
board natio- 
nal vessels 



Imported 
from Europe 
or the United 

States on 
board natio 
nal vessels 



Imported 
from the Co- 
lonies on 
board foreign 
vessels. 



Imported 
from Europe 
or the United 

States on 
board foreign 
vessels. 



Iron in bars. 

Sheet tin and copper. 

Paper. 

Medicines. 

Fishing tackle. 

Tar. 

Pitch. 

Cables. 

Cordage. 

Cotton stuffs. 

Woollen ditto. 

Muslin ditto. 

Umbrellas. 

Hats of Beaver, Cotton, or Silk 
Wax. 

Spermaceti 
Wines. 
Vinegar. 
Oil. 

Gold or Silver watches. 
Galoons 

Saddles or side saddles. 

China, European or Asiatic looking 

glasses and glasses. 
Silks. 

Precious stones. 
Curried leathers. 
Lace 

Handkerchiefs. 
Artificial flowers. 
Artificial feathers. 
Mirrors. 
Perfumes. 
Essences. 
Indian Spices. 
Dried or preserved fruits 
Olives. 
Capers. 

Men and Women's shoes. 
Boots. 
Furniture. 

Ready made clothes and linen 
Copper utensils. 
Bronze. 
Steel. 
Tallow. 
Flour 

Salted meat and other eatables. 



17|^cent. 



lTl^cent 



15 #* cent. 



10 W cent 



20 W cent 



-22§#*cent 



| 20§#'cent 



22|^ceot 



25 W cent, 



20^ cent. 



15 cent 



ni^cent 



25 cent 



20 ^ cent. 



27|^cent 



30 ^ cent 



15 ^ cent. 



17|^cent. 



15 ^ cent. 



25 ^ cent. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



407 



All the merchandizes not included in this 
law, pay 25 per cent when they come from the 
colonies in national bottoms, and 17^ per cent 
when they are brought from Europe or the United 
States in national ones. When, on the contrary, 
they come from the colonies in foreign bottoms, 
they are subject to a duty of 30 per cent, and 25 
per cent when they arrive from Europe or the 
United States. 

All merchandizes drawn from Asia, provided 
they are not from Spanish colonies, pay a duty 
of 12 per cent when they come in national bottoms , 
and 25 per cent when they do not come direct 
from Asia ; when they do arrive direct from Asia 
in foreign vessels, they are taxed at 20 per cent, 
and 25 per cent when they do not come direct. 

All articles drawn from the old Spanish co- 
lonies, and which are not the productions of the 
country, pay the same duties as the merchandize 
brought from the colonies ; in the contrary case, 
they are considered upon the same footing as 
those which come from Europe, or from the 
United States. 

The tariff of Carthagena serves as a model 
for the payment of all these duties. 

The exportation act has placed : 

Ten per cent upon leathers, cocoa and indi- 
go, estimated according to the price current at 
the place. 



408 TRAVELS IN THE 

Fifteen piastres per head for every mule and 
horse. 

Twelve per cent upon every head of sheep. 

The other productions of the country, which 
are not enumerated in the decree,, pay 5 per cent, 
with the exception of coffee, cotton, brown and 
white sugar, rum, and building timber, these ar- 
ticles are exempt from duties for ten years. 

Gold specie pays 3 per cent, and for the pre- 
vention of fraud, the duty known by the name of 
supposed extraction (extraction presumee), has 
been preserved ; by this they are enabled to esti- 
mate, according to the merchandize imported, 
the quantity of specie which has gone out, and 
consequently to recover by this means the duties. 

Every port of the republic may serve as en- 
trepots for all kinds of provisions and eatables 
brought from foreign- countries, upon the word 
of the ship's master being given to export them 
into other neutral or friendly ports ; this must be 
done within six months, under pain of paying the 
duties. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



409 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Departure from Panama — Cruces — The river Chagres — The Gorgona — 

Chagres. 

I left Panama on the 18th of November, at six 
o'clock in the morning, accompanied by a mule- 
teer. He had with him two baggage mules, one 
of which I mounted, and observing it shod, pre- 
saged that I should meet with very bad roads. 
My conjectures were not ill-founded. 

Compared with the country I had just tra- 
versed, the Cordillera is here very low ; the tra- 
veller is, however, obliged to be always ascend- 
ing and descending, and that with some difficul- 
ty, for the ground, continually inundated by the 
storms of rain which come from the two seas, is 
nothing but one deep bog, rendered the more 
dangerous, by the stones which the ignorant la- 
bourers have thrown in it, by way of making it 
firmer. The traveller does nothing but slide 
about and fall, and is in water during the whole 
of the road. Upon arriving nearly half way, the 
declivity of the mountains is to be descended, 
which is far more steep on the side of the Ca- 
ribbean Sea than on that of the Pacific. The 



410 



TRAVELS IN THE 



rain and the bad state of the roads prevented 
my arriving before seven o'clock at Graces,* a 
village entirely inhabited by people of colour. 
One of them received me with much kindness ; 
but his cabin presented the same scene of dirt as 
is general with these men. 

I, therefore, congratulated myself upon 
being able to leave Cruces the next day, and em- 
bark in one of the bongos which navigate the 
Chagres. These piraguas are so lofty, that the 
negroes cannot row in them without standing 
upon the benches. An officer, charged with or- 
ders for the intendant of Panama, was my tra- 
velling companion ; I had imagined that his pre- 
sence would have rendered our passage shorter, 
and that I should reach Chagres the same night ; 
it, however, made it much longer. At 11 o'clock 
in the morning, this young man stopped at the 
village of Gorgona, peopled with negroes, and 
composed of huts still more filthy than those of 
Cruces. The rain, as is the case till the end of 
December, was then beginning to fall. The offi- 
cer was fearful of getting wet, and Gorgona of- 
fered him such seducing charms, that he re- 
solved to pass the day there. The piragua was 
under the orders of this courier, and we were 
compelled to remain. The negroes were delighted 
at finding a white as indolent as themselves. We 

* Had the road been better, three hours would have suf- 
ficed to go from Panama to Cruces. 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



411 



recommenced our voyage at four o'clock in the 
morning. It was cold, and the slaves had muf- 
fled themselves up, one in the cap, and the other 
in the cloak of the obliging officer. 

We continued our voyage the whole of the 
day between the Cordilleras, whose summits, but 
little elevated, appear of a considerable height^ 
in comparison with the low and boggy shores of 
the Chagres. This river is not very wide, but its 
deep and peaceful waters afford a pleasant navi- 
gation. Its banks are generally covered with 
thick woods. Now and then a solitary hut is 
perceived, in which a few negroes live, sur- 
rounded by marshes ; these huts are so damp, 
that their roofs, as in the cold countries, are co- 
vered with moss. We perceived Chagres at two 
o'clock in the afternoon. Four foreign vessels 
were at anchor. The view of Chagres is rather 
picturesque. An enormous rock, on which rises 
a castle regularly built of stone, defends the 
river against the Gulf of Mexico, whose waves 
mingle with its own ; there is not, however, 
much motion ; the mouth of the river is open to 
the north. The village, protected against the 
encroachments of the sea, and the attacks of 
external enemies, extends along the gentle de- 
clivities of the coasts. The water near land is so 
shallow, that piraguas alone can approach it. 

When we had disembarked, I looked out for 
a hut, and soon found one very commodious for 



412 



TRAVELS IN THE 



the country ; I will describe it, in order that 
some idea may be formed of Chagres. It was of 
bamboos, and consisted of two rooms ; one was 
the kitchen , the other the sleeping room. A 
hammock, suspended from the middle of the 
first, served as a canopy, under which sat all the 
inmates. At night, they spread out upon the 
ground ox's hides and barrels of meal, these 
served for beds. To increase the disorder, cook- 
ing went forward in the same room ; the fire- 
place consisted of three stones. Cords tied across 
the chamber were loaded with sausages, pud- 
dings, and meat, which were being dried by the 
smoke of the fire. Lastly, they had put upon a 
table all kinds of pots, which were alternately 
passed from the kitchen to the sleeping room, 
where the mother lived alone. She was a mulat- 
toe, extremely old, but excessively proud at seeing 
her grand-daughter entitled by the fairness of 
her skin, to enter the cast of the whites. 

These smoky habitations, erected in the 
midst of pestiferous marshes, often contain pro- 
digious riches, the defence of which is confined 
to a few reeds, and a leather door tied with 
cords. The merchant, however, deposits his 
fortune here without the least uneasiness or risk ; 
not a bale is opened, not a single box is ever 
forced. This wretched village, therefore, pre- 
sents the appearance of opulence, nor did I, in 
any other part of the republic, ever see so much 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



413 



money in circulation. There are few negroes 
who do not gain from 60 to 80 piastres a week ; 
these prodigious gains are all spent at little stalls, 
which are well stocked with wine and liquors. 

The climate of Chagres, although extremely 
warm and damp, is not fatal ; all Europeans fall 
ill there, but very few do not recover. Living 
is very dear in this frightful spot, the price of a 
fowl being one piastre, and often two. Water and 
wood is also very difficult to be obtained in these 
inundated forests, as the negroes despise this 
kind of work, as producing little profit, and 
being very laborious : these men, when free, will 
not work without the certainty of considerable 
gain. 

A great number of piraguas are employed 
in transporting the accumulated English manu- 
factures Into the huts of the Chagres, which are 
thus changed into warehouses, the hire of which 
is very dear ; for example, 400 francs* per month 
when the convoys arrive : a loaded bongo takes 
four days to ascend to Cruces. Each package^ 
pays two piastres freight from Chagres to Cruces, 
and two more from Cruces to Panama. The 
freight from Jamaica to Chagres is also two 
piastres. 

The inhabitants of Chagres are so united 

* About £15 sterling-, 
f From 150 to soolfe. 



414 



TRAVELS IN THE 



amongst themselves, that neither contribution 
nor conscription can be levied among them. The 
system of suspicion established by the Spaniards 
in the Isthmus, equally exists under the present 
government, and the police regulations, with 
respect to passports, are very severe. Strangers 
are not allowed to enter the castle, which is but 
indifferently fortified. 

An English brig of war is the only vessel of 
tolerable size which has come up to Chagres, for 
the strait is so narrow, that schooners of com- 
mon tonnage alone can anchor there. Those of 
the English bring stuffs, and carry away the gold 
of Colombia and Peru, and the silver of Mexico. 
The cargoes of the north Americans, who un- 
dertake here, as else where, to furnish the peo- 
ple with provisions, consist of salted meats, cod, 
onions, and some goods which they purchase at 
Jamaica. They smuggle over great quantities 
of contraband tobacco, under the name of Ha- 
vannah tobacco. 

I have dwelt at some length upon the dif- 
ferent parts of the Isthmus of Panama which I 
visited, as it appeared to me that the description 
of these places might be read with some interest. 
In fact, if the policy of the Spanish Americans, 
or their indifference did not leave the roads in so 
bad a state, every possible convenience might be 
met with, especially on the route to Portobello, 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



415 



the port of which is very secure. The English, 
who permit no commercial advantage to escape 
them, have undertaken, as I am informed, to 
open a road from that city to Cruces, and from 
thence to Panama, upon condition of being 
exclusively authorized to transport the merchan- 
dize, a privilege for which they offer to pay the 
government the tenth part of their profits. 



416 



TRAVELS IN THE 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Arrival at Jamaica — Departure for Europe — Lucayos or Bahama Islands — ■ 
Falmouth — Arrival in France. 

I embarked on board an English schooner for Ja- 
maica. I had no less reason to complain of the 
mariners of the Caribbean Seas than of those of 
the great Ocean. The most sordid parsimony, 
during a voyage of twelve days, reduced me to 
such a state of weakness, that a three weeks' re- 
sidence at Jamaica was hardly sufficient to re- 
cruit me. The English, so attentive in procuring 
for themselves even the superfluities of life, must 
have robust constitutions to be enabled at the 
same time, to undergo the greatest privations. 
In fact, aboard these little merchant vessels they 
live very badly, and in case of illness, will only 
take violent medicines without the least discern- 
ment. 

The very day of our departure from Chagres, 
we met an English frigate ; she was on her way 
to Carthagena, whence she was going to Santa- 
Martha ; this was what our captain called the 
round (la tournee) of the English ships of war. 
He was performing his own, that of collecting 
the specie of the American merchants, which, 



REPUBLIC OP COLOMBIA. 



417 



upon an allowance of two and a half per cent he 
carried to Jamaica. 

We were in sight of Carthagena on the 2nd 
of December, we then crossed, at a great distance 
from land, the currents of the Magdalena; whilst 
we were beating to windward in the gulf of 
Darien, the winds blew from the north-east, and 
the currents had run from the south-west. We 
had no sooner doubled the Papa, than the latter 
were, on the contrary, north-west, and the former 
south-west. On the 4th of December we per- 
ceived Jamaica. The sea ran high, and water 
spouts rose on all sides ; but as there was but 
little wind, we could not enter the roads till the 
next day ; after having beat off for some time, 
we arrived at an anchorage at noon. I imme- 
diately went on shore. 

Jamaica is traversed from one end to the 
other by a very high chain of mountains. Although 
a most delicious coolness reigns upon their sum- 
mits, the inhabitants are but few. The Creole 
throughout the Antilles fears to remove from the 
sea coasts ; he is continually longing to see Eu- 
ropean vessels, and the thirst for gain as well as 
fear, rivets him to the unhealthy borders of the 
sea. 

Land breezes blow during a part of the day 
and throughout the night, a luxury dangerous to 
Europeans, for by suppressing perspiration, they 
cause fever; they also hinder vessels from entering 

2 E 



418 



TRAVELS IN THE 



the port before ten o'clock in the morning, the 
time when the sea breezes commence. 

In addition to a great number of villages, 
there are many small towns in Jamaica, amongst 
which Spanish Town, and King's Town, hold the 
first rank. The one is both the capital and the 
seat of government ; the other the chief com- 
mercial town. ITie latter frequented by all fo- 
reigners is full of bustle, while the other is very 
dull. 

At the entrance of the port of Kings Town 
is the borough of Port Royal ; near this is the 
anchorage for ships of war, which generally 
muster from twenty to twenty-five. Indepen- 
dently of this maritime force, a very strong cas- 
tle and several batteries line the shore through 
which is the approach to the port for merchant 
vessels. 

The stranger who arrives from the Spanish 
colonies is astonished upon seeing the activity, 
and the great number of vessels which fill the 
harbour. Near the wharfs have been built im- 
mense warehouses lined with iron, the recep- 
tacles for merchandize. This place, which brings 
to recollection the London docks, is one of the 
most interesting to be seen. Whilst in one part 
of the yard are found huge blocks of maho- 
gany, campeachy log wood, deals, and spars 
from Canada, Virginia staves, iron, lead, and 
copper, in another are small barrels filled with 
the precious metals of Mexico and Colombia. 



REPUBLIC OP COLOMBIA. 



419 



A bustle no less interesting is to be observed 
in the town. Here, is a warehouse filled with 
the rich stuffs of India, and Manchester ; there, 
another crowded with mirrors, glass, and goods 
of every description. One street is appropriated 
to the sellers of salt provisions ; the sale of these 
is very great, as they form the only article of food 
with the inhabitants of the interior. 

The streets are so crowded with passengers, 
coaches, elegant chaises, landaus, &c. crossing 
each other in every direction, that I was never 
more at a loss in some of our largest European 
cities. The plan of King's Town is very well 
conceived ; built upon the gentle declivity of the 
mountains, all the streets extend towards the 
sea in right lines. This arrangement, however, 
so agreeable to the eye, often renders them in 
winter almost uninhabitable, for the mountain 
torrents then rush down and cause dreadful de- 
vest ation. The houses are of wood ; at the same 
time they are so clean, so convenient, so beau- 
tifully constructed, that they appear delightful. 
In the streets where business is carried on, they 
have generally a low gallery, where people walk 
sheltered from the heat of the sun. The barracks, 
and the theatre, are built upon the same plan as 
the houses of individuals. There is one English 
church, one catholic, two Scotch, three metho- 
dists' chapels, and three synagogues. These 
2e 2 



420 TRAVELS IN THE 

buildings, constructed upon the same model, are 
only distinguished from the other houses by 
their size. The number of slaves in comparison 
with that of whites is prodigious ; they amount 
to two hundred thousand, while the whites do 
not exceed twelve thousand. Among these are 
four thousand Frenchmen from Saint-Domingo, 
the only remains of twenty-two thousand who 
were compelled to quit Cuba in 1808. 

Notwithstanding the militias and a garrison of 
three thousand men, the black population cause 
considerable alarm ; alarm-signals are conti- 
nually being fired, and the soldiery are almost 
always under arms ; it might be supposed they 
feared the invasion of some foreign enemy, that, 
however, which they dread is a domestic one. 
The system of the English, notwithstanding, is 
very judicious ; they acknowledge no difference 
but that of a freeman or a slave. According to 
their laws, no owner can beat his slave ; should 
the latter have been guilty of any crime, he must 
be taken before a magistrate, who orders him to 
receive thirty-nine lashes ; this is the maximum 
of punishment ; it can only be inflicted once a 
week. Notwithstanding, however, this species 
of justice, notwithstanding the esteem which 
the English have gained among the blacks, 
the never failing execution of their laws and 
the terror of their power, every one is uneasy; 



HE PUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



421 



upon the least disturbance they run to arras, and 
on holidays a garrison is placed for several days 
in each habitation. 

Jamaica, as every one knows, is very pro- 
ductive in sugar and coffee. Although these 
articles should first proceed to England, the 
smugglers carry great quantities to the United 
States. Jamaica is not only the entrepot of t he 
American continent, from Mexico as far as Peru, 
but is also that of Cuba and the United States, 
the ships of these countries alone are permitted to 
enter the English colony. Although vessels sail 
daily for Chagres, Rio-liacha, and Carthagena, 
the prosperity of Jamaica is less owing to its 
commercial relations with foreign countries than 
to the exchange of its produce against the manu- 
factures of the mother country, as this has the pri- 
vilege of clothing and feeding the two or three 
hundred thousand individuals who people the 
colony, the relations between it and the latter are 
incessant and of great importance. 

Upon seeing the towns, establishments, 
houses, and customs of the people of the conti- 
nent, every thing appears so fixed, that the lapse 
of ages only can bring about any change. This 
is not the case in the Antilles, nor, consequently 
with Jamaica, in his dwelling, and in his do 
mestic life, the inhabitant of this archipelago 
always preserves the character of the wandering 
colonist. He seldom marries, and is always 



422 



TRAVELS IN THE 



ready to quit his temporary home ; nothing at- 
taches him to the soil ; for his provisions, his 
ships, and oftentimes his house, come from the 
continent. His character, made up of all pos- 
sible contrasts, a singular mixture of the serious 
and calculating avidity of the English, the care- 
less and factious levity of the French, the specu- 
lative and avaricious spirit of the Jews, the cool 
firmness of the Danes and Swedes, the neg roe's 
indifference, and the mulattoe's pride, resembles 
neither the wandering inclinations of the people 
of the Llanos, nor the mild character of the 
inhabitants of the Andes, nor the mercantile 
spirit of the north Americans, but partakes, 
in some degree of all : for the inhabitant of the 
Antilles, to whatever cast he belongs, does not 
like to remain in one place ; he has not sufficient 
room ; he goes from isle to isle ; he is greedy 
after gain, a passion which always induces him to 
turn corsair or soldier, and makes him feared 
upon the continent, whose armies, when deprived 
of their most powerful allies, the men of colour 
would, with difficulty, resist the warlike inha- 
bitants of the Antilles. 

The more I approached the end of my 
voyage, the greater was my anxiety to accom- 
plish it ; the celebration of Christmas rendered 
opportunities very rare, so much so, that only 
one vessel, the packet Fieeping, was to set off 
in the month of December ; I engaged for my 



REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 



423 



passage. We set sail on the 25th of December ; 
two days afterwards we were between Cuba and 
St. Domingo. Our voyage continuing prospe- 
rous, on the 1st of January we perceived Crooked 
Island, one of the Bahamas. We there anchored, 
it being here that the English packets deliver 
their dispatches for the governor of this archipe- 
lago. 

The aspect of Crooked Island is very dreary ; 
like that of all the Bahamas, the ground is very 
low ; towards the centre of the isle, it is com- 
posed of sand and stones, amid which grow a few 
shrubs, while the shores, formed of madrepores 
and corals, afford a retreat for an infinite num- 
ber of turtles. The incomes of the inhabi- 
tants, in almost every part of the archipelago, 
are derived from the sale of salt and cotton, 
which is collected by black slaves. The approach 
to these isles is very dangerous, and numbers of 
vessels are lost amid the reefs of rocks surround- 
ing them : whoever has passed them, cannot but 
admire the courage and ability of Columbus, 
which enabled him to escape the dangers he had 
to encounter every moment in a sea beset with 
rocks, and at that time unknown. We only passed 
the night at Crooked Island, and the next morn- 
ing again set sail. Our passage was an excellent 
one, and we came in sight of Lizard Point on 
the 28th of January, 1824, without the least ac- 
cident, and even without the fear of one. The 



424 TRAVELS IS THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA. 

next day we sailed for Falmouth, where we an- 
chored at sun-rise. The delightful view pre- 
sented by the country surrounding* the bay re- 
doubled my joy at again seeing Europe. 

I remained a few days at Falmouth, and then 
set off for London ; I arrived there on the 6th of 
February, but quitted it three days after, being 
unwilling to interpose any delay to the pleasure 
I promised myself in returning to France. I only 
stopped one night at Calais, and on the 13th of 
February reached Paris, 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



NOTE I. 

Description of the Province of Pampluna, by Joachim 
Camacho, Advocate*. 

The province of Pampluna is separated on the south from that 
of Tunja by the Sogamoso, which discharges itself in the Mag- 
dalena ; on the north, it borders upon Ocana, which is depen- 
dent on the province of Santa-Martha, and upon Maracaibo by 
the Tachira, the boundary of New Grenada and of Venezuela. 
On the west, it terminates at the Magdalena between the 
mouths of the Sogamoso and the Canaverales ; on the east, at 
the llanos de Varinas, where are collected the waters of the 
valley of Savateca, the sources of the Apure, a branch of the 
Or0nqi8£o. The eastern branch of the Andes almost fills this 
province, and forms numerous vallies, by which the inhabitants 
easily communicate with the gulf of Mexico, by the Zulia, 
which forms a confluence with the Catatumba, near the lake 
Maracaibo. The towns situated to the west have likewise easy 
communications by the Sogamoso and the Canaverales, both 
navigable rivers. 

The town of Pampluna in 8° north lat., is 1,300 toises 
above the level of the sea. Its temperature, from 12 to 14, 
R. is not very agreeable, owing to the vapours which conti- 
nually darken the heavens. The territory of Pampluna pro- 
duces wheat, oats, maize, potatoes, celery, cabbages, beans, 
french beans, and an infinity of other vegetable and culinary 
plants which generally flourish at this elevation. One of the most 

* Semanario del Nuevo Reyno de Grenada. 



426 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



remarkable spots of this district is Surata, whose climate is 
temperate. Ten thousand load of meal is annually prepared 
there, the greater part of which passes through Ocana on its 
way to Monpox and Carthagena. The wheat is of an excellent 
quality and affords two crops in the course of a year. It seems 
to belong to that variety which in Europe is called summer 
wheat ; it only grows in places where the temperature is mild, 
as in this valley and in that of Savateca ; for in the more 
elevated, and consequently colder places, such as Pampluna, 
Silos, Cacata, Velosco, Servita, and Cerrito, there is only the 
winter wheat to be found ; the bread made from which is black 
and heavy. Near Sogamoso, at Tequia, la Concepcion, Llano- 
Enciso, Malaya vita, and Carcasi, wheat, sugar cane and rice 
are cultivated. None of the villages in the district of Pamplu- 
na, with the exception of the villages of Matanza and Ecce- 
Homo in the valley of Surata, gather sufficient corn to enable 
them to transport any. They are even sometimes obliged to 
import some from the neighbouring cantons. 

At Pampluna and its dependencies they cultivate some 
indigenous plants which are very useful ; such as, the common 
pine ( pinus silvestris J , the resin from which is very generally 
employed as a medicine : the myrica fmyrica terifera) which 
produces the wax called laurel; it is the same as that of 
Louisiana ; a galium, the root of which furnishes an excellent 
yellow dye for cottons; the chilca (cestrum), which yields a 
beautiful green colour ; several species of melastoma (tunos,) 
which are used in dying yellow ; and lastly, the vervius, alizo, 
and the gazmon which produce the same colour. 

In the valley of Taupa, the nopal is laden with the cochi- 
neal insects, which are sent into the province of Tunja. The 
web in which the insect wraps itself, and which the inhabitants 
cannot separate from it, renders the cochineal of Tunja less 
valuable than that of Mexico. 

The olive tree is very common at Pampluna, but the 
mode of preparing the oil is not known ; Europe has therefore 
no reason to fear a competition in this article. 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



427 



Sepita, upon the Sogamoso, has great quantities of Brazi- 
lian wood ; but the unfair dealing's of the sellers have lowered 
the prices. 

Abundant pastures in this province promise sufficient food 
for immense numbers of cattle, if the severity of the places 
would permit them to breed ; for this reason the inhabitants 
are obliged, notwithstanding multiplied efforts at breeding, to 
procure them from the llanos of Casanare, by the way of 
Cucuy, and those of Varinas, by that of San-Christopher. The 
dearness of meat causes a scarcity of tallow, for which vegeta- 
ble wax is used as a substitute. 

Horses, mules, sheep and goats are bred ; tolerably good 
marocco leather is prepared from the skins of the last. 

The mineral riches of Pampluna are little known. Tra- 
dition reports that formerly immense quantities of gold were 
drawn from the mines of Beta and Montuosa. In fact, traces of 
great works are still visible. The gold of these mines is 
carried to Giron by the waters which form the Canaverales. 
The sand of this river contains g-old of 23 carats. There are 
also silver mines ; this metal has been found at the rate of eight 
ounces to one quintal of ore. 

The copper mines are rich ; but being always badly 
worked, have enriched the country very little. 

The soil of the territory on which Pampluna is built, is 
full of mica ; in several places it is found in large sheets : as in 
Russia, it is converted into glass for the windows ; several 
fancy articles are also manufactured from it. Quartz, feld- 
spar and granite are every where met with. Every thing in 
fact announces the metallic and mineralogical riches of Pam- 
pluna ; but little profit is derived from them, as the works 
are ill conducted. 

The province of Pampluna does not contain three thou- 
sand Indians ; they inhabit eight villages. The remainder of 
the population composed of whites and half whites may amount 
to 40,000 souls. They are all agriculturists ; a small number 
only being mechanics. 



428 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



A country which has but few things to export cannot be 
rich, Parapluna would even be very poor, if property were 
not extremely divided, which diffuses comfort through nume- 
rous families. The llanos adjoining the valley of Savate- 
ca, would have been for that country an advantageous opening 
for its grains in exchange for cattle, if there had been any 
road to facilitate this communication. This was however easy to 
be effected, by following the direction of the valley watered by 
the Chitoya, which, to all appearance, is one of the sources of 
the Apure. By this means Pampluna could enter into communi- 
cation with Guyana ; Giron could do so likewise with the dis- 
tant provinces by the same road, and instead of paying very 
dearly for the provisions which this town draws from the llanos 
of Casanare by the salt mine of Chita, it would procure them 
at a more moderate price from those of Varinas ; this article 
carries almost all the specie from Giron. 

Cotton is cultivated in this district, particularly in the pa- 
rish of Rio-Negro. More than one hundred thousand arrobas* 
are annually exported for Monpox and Carthagena ; the rest is 
employed in manufacturing coarse stuffs in the place itself. 

The Giron tobacco is of a superior quality, and the entre- 
pot established at Piedecuesta contributes to the comfort of the 
people ; cocoa, of which considerable quantities are sold, suc- 
ceeds very well on the banks of the Sogamoso, Surate, and 
Canaverales. These countries also furnish large quantities of 
capaiva balsam and some building timber : it is carried to 
Monpox. 

Near the parish of Rio-Negro an abundant amber mine has 
been discovered. 

If the road were open from Giron to the Magdalena, this 
place would enjoy very great commercial advantages. In the 
first place the rocks of the Sogamoso would be avoided, which 
are the destruction of many boats ; besides which, a vast extent 
of unknown lands, situated between the Sogamoso and the 
Canaverales, would be much frequented. 

* This calculation is evidently exaggerated. 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



429 



The navigation of this last river is far preferable to the 
other, although its waters are too shallow to allow very deeply 
laden boats to sail up it. This canal is of great utility to the 
inhabitants of Rio-Negro, who transport their grains by it 
much more quickly and cheaply than by Ocana. 

The district of Giron is like that of Pampluna, inhabited 
by a population composed of different races ; very few Indians 
and negro slaves are to be met with. 

The most flourishing towns of this province are those of 
St. Joseph and of Rosario de Cucuta, although they want an 
opening for their productions. Their territory, varied by the 
vallies watered by the Jachira, the Pampluna, and the Zulia, 
have some fine cocoa plantations. 

At Cucuta, agriculture is confided to about a thousand 
slaves. The Cucuta cocoa, called Magdalena cocoa, as it is 
brought down that river, is very much esteemed. The cocoa 
harvest may be about 80,000 arrobas annually, which, at the 
price of three piastres per arroba, produces a revenue of 240,000 
piastres. If to this be added the produce of coffee and indigo, 
which is likewise cultivated in the province, the total of the pro- 
perty of Pampluna may be estimated at one million of piastres.* 
The greater part of the cocoas of Cucuta descend to Maracai- 
bo, by the Zulia. The journey by land, as far as the bridge 
of Cachos, in the village of Limonsito, is six leagues ; a very 
short distance, but extremely bad, from the indifference of mer- 
chants, and from their indisposition to unite when called upon 

* This does not appear very exact. The country produces a quau- 
tity of coffee and indigo, much inferior to the cocoa : thus, notwithstand- 
ing the assertion of Senor Camacho, the revenue from coffee and indigo 
may be said not to amount even to the half of that arising from cocoa. 
The province of Pampluna has never had a million of piastres in circu- 
lation. American authors have generally the fault of exaggerating the 
riches of their country : thus, in an Essay upon the Province of Antio- 
quia, priuted in the Journal el Semanario del Nuevo Reyno, Senor Res- 
trepo advances that Antioquia draws annually from its mines 600,000 
castilians of gold. Enlightened individuals of that country own, that this 
calculation is far from being exact. 



430 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



to advance any money without the prospect of a certain and 
immediate profit.* 

A considerable quantity of Cucuta silver passes by San- 
Christoval into the Varinas. It is expended in the purchase 
of mules and cattle, of which nearly 10,000 heads are bought 
annually. Although pasturage is abundant, oxen are not bred in 
these vallies. The salt comes from the coast, when it cannot be 
procured from Chita or Zipaquira. 

The goodness of the soil is not the only cause of the 
abundance of the cocoa-trees ; the care of the cultivators con- 
tributes much to it. Instructed by experience, they shadow 
them with ceibas and erytahrinas; they water them, and 
surround them with flourishing hedges of citrons, fagaras, and 
acacias, which, while they defend the estate, present a most 
enchanting appearance. They would then have only to con- 
gratulate themselves on the culture of this useful plant, were 
tbey not obliged to get rid of their cocoas immediately, to save 
them from the ravages of the tinea falsa. This insect is also 
equally destructive to the corn and grain of Surata. 

The town of Salazar de las Palmas has declined in propor- 
tion as those of the valley of Cucuta have prospered ; some 
rich parishes, however, Sant-Yago and Cayetano, may be reck- 
oned among its dependencies : the latter especially has some 
beautiful cocoa plantations. 

The town of Salazar de las Palmas owes its name to the 
great quantity of palms which cover the country in which it 
is situated. The different kinds found here, are the royal 
palm ( cocos butyracea J , which affords wine and butter ; the 
negro-head-palm fphytelephos macrocarpaj, the fruit of 
which can be worked like ivory ; the noli, which may be 

* The merchants of Cucuta will certainly at last abandon the road 
of Monpox and Carthagena, -where numbers of them perish, the victims 
of the unhealthiness of those burning climates; whilst, in going to Ma- 
racaibo, they travel in places, the atmosphere of which is pure and heal- 
thy ; besides, their voyage is not incommoded by those clouds of insect* 
which torment the traveller on the Magdaleiia. 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



called cocos ignaria, from the cottony substance found in its 
leaves, and which is a good substitute for tinder ; lastly, the 
murappo ( carludovica) , which is used in covering houses, 
and the twigs of which are eaten. 

Upon the whole, the soil of the province of Pampluna 
is fertile, but the inhabitants are so indolent, that almost 
all the country is a desert ; which is generally found to be the 
case in the more ancient colonies of the kingdom. 



NOTE II. 

According to M. de Humboldt, the population of the re- 
public of Colombia amounts to 2,700,000 souls. Pombo,* who 
published, in 1811, an Essay upon the Statistics of New Gre- 
nada, thus calculates the numbers of the inhabitants in each 
province : — 



Guyaquil 


50,000 


Loxa and Jaen 


80,000 


Cuenca 


200,000 


Quixas and Macas 


40,000 


Quito 


500,000 


Popayan 


320,000 


Choco 


40,000 


Antiquia 


1 10,000 


Neyva 


45,000 


Santa-Fe 


490,000 


Tunja 


200,000 


Socorro 


125,000 


Pampluna 


90,000 


Los Llanos 


20,000 


Mariquita 


110,000 


Carthagena 


210,000 


Santa- Martha 


70,000 


Rio-Hacha 


20,000 


Panama and Portobello 


50,000 


Veragua 


30,000 




2,500,000 



* A Creole of New Grenada. 



432 



NOTES AND 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



In adding to this number that of the inhabitants of Cara- 
cas, which may be agreed at 900,000, the population of the 
republic will amount to 3,400,000 souls. This calculation is 
evidently exaggerated, and is besides little conformable with 
the census recently made by order of the present govern- 
ment of the republic. 



NOTE III. 

Bogota was erected into a see by Pope Pius IV in 1564. 
This archbishopric is composed of five dignitaries, seven canons, 
three prebends, and one sub-prebend. 

The suffragans of Bogota are : 

Popayan, three dignitaries, two canons, two prebends, 
two sub-prebends ; 

Carthagena, five dignitaries, one canon ; 
Santa-Martha, four dignitaries ; 
Merida de Maracaibo. 

Caracas, formerly suffragan of Saint-Domingo, has five 
dignitaries, four canons, two prebends, two sub-prebends, 
six chaplains, six acolytes. The bishop's revenue amounts to 
75,000 piastres, about (375,000, fr.*) Quito formerly suffra- 
gan of Lima, has five dignitaries, six canons, four prebends, 
two sub-prebends. The bishopric of Quito was founded in 
1534. 

Panama, formerly suffragan of Lima, has five dignitaries 
and two canons. 

The ecclesiastical chapter of Bogota is composed of a 
dean, an archdeacon, a chorister, a doctor, and a treasurer. 
A dean has 5000 piastres : a rector 2000. 

* About 14,062 pounds sterling:. 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS, 



483 



NOTE IV. 

Santa-fe is divided into 195 squares (maiizanas). In 1800 
the inhabitants amounted to 21,464 without including- in this 
number strangers and beggars, whose residence was not 
known. The population since that time has much increased, 
the number of births, in the same year 1800, having exceeded 
that of deaths by 247. 

Sal. Ma. Salazar. 



NOTE V. 



Prices of some goods at Bogota. 









English 


Meat, 


25lb 


about 6s 7d 


Bread, 


1 


ditto 


OS 3jd 


Wine, 


& dozen, 


ditto 


60S 


Sugar, 




ditto 


OS 5fd 


Confectionary, 


25tb 


ditto 


19s 


Spanish oil, 


1 bottle, 


ditto 


5s 4d 


SafFran, 


1 oz. 


ditto 


8s 6d 


Keep of a Horse, 


W <tey, 


ditto 


is lOd 


Hat, 




ditto 


60s 


Half Boots, 




ditto 


38s 


Shoes, 




ditto 


12S 


European wax, 


1 lb 


ditto 


7s 6d 


Gunpowder 


1 ditto 


ditto 


6s 9d 



2 p 



434 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



NOTE VI. 

Statement of the tithes of Antioquia, one of the richest pro- 
vinces of the Colombian Republic, the population of 
which amounts to 106,950 inhabitants. 
Years. Piastres. 

1800 31,064 3 

1801 28,412 6 

1802 24,250 1 

1803 28,693 3 

1804 25,954 7 

138,375 4 

The result proves that the expenses of each inhabitant 
does not exceed four piastres, (16 shillings) per annum. 

Restrepo, Geographical Essay upon 
New Grenada. 



NOTE VII. 

Pombo in 1811 thus enumerates the revenues of New Gre- 



nada. 

Piastres. 

Santa- Martha and Rio-Hacha, 320,000 

Carthagena, 600,000 
Panama (on account of the trade of Peru), 800,000 

Guayaquil, 300,000 

Cuenca 60,000 

Mainas, 30,000 

Quito, 250,000 

Quixas, 40,000 

Popayan, 210,000 

Choco; 60,000 

Antioquia. 160,000 

Neyva, 18,000 

Mariquita, 23,000 

Santa-Fe 180,000 

Tunja, 80,000 

Socorro, 72,000 

Pampluna, 70,000 



3,273,000 



NOTES AND LLU ST RATIONS. 



435 



This estimate appears the more correct, from the re- 
venues of the province of Santa-Fe in the month of October, 
(the statement of which was published in the Official Gazette, 
in the month of November of the same year) amounting to 
15,10? piastres. This sum, multiplied by twelve, gives 
181,284 piastres, a result which resembles Pombo's in a sin- 
gular degree. If we afterwards add to the total of the reve- 
nues of New Grenada, the sum of the revenues of Caracas, 
which Senor Jove, a member of the consulate at Cara- 
cas, estimates at 2,032,500 piastres, although according to 
several inquiries, they do not amount to more than 1,227,336, 
it will be found that the revenues of the republic do not exceed 
5,305,500 piastres, or 26,527,500 francs* whilst the approxi- 
mate expences calculated from those of the departments of 
Santa-Fe and Caracas, the table of which was published in 
1822 and 1823) amount to 5,715,336 piastres, or 28,776,680 
francs. f In these expenses the payment of the interest upon 
forty millions of piastres due to the English, is not included. 



NOTE VIII. 

The courier from Carthagena arrives at Bogota, on the 9th, 
19th, and 29th of each month, and on the same days the cou- 
rier from Bogota sets off for Carthagena. The courier from 
Caracas, arrives at Bogota on the 4th and 19th, and quits 
that capital for Caracas, on the 7th, 15th, and 22nd. The dis- 
tance between these two cities, is reckoned to be 250 leagues. 



NOTE IX. 

A mass costs one piastre ; a christening, 12 reals ; a marriage, 
12 piastres, and 200, if the banns are not published. A dis- 



* Reckoning the franc at 9d English. £994,781,, 5 sterling, 
t £1,079,125,, 10 sterling. 

2 f 2 



4S& NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

pensation for the marriage of an uncle with his niece, 1000 
piastres ; a burial, four piastres and a half for the poor, and 
200 for the wealthy. 



NOTE X. 

The rich mines produce daily at the rate of eight reals for 
each slave ; those which are only moderately abundant, and 
these are the most common, only two reals. In Antioquia, the 
mines are worked by free men, who are called massamorreros. 
In this province the locality of the mines is not the same as in 
the lands bordering upon the Pacific ; for, in Antioquia, gold 
is discovered at 1,450 toises above the level of the sea; the 
ore is found scattered and separated by long spaces, whilst in 
Choco, it is only found in a line parallel to the horizon. 

Restrepo, Geographical Essay upon New Grenada. 



NOTE XI. 

Many persons who have formed an idea of Colombia, from the 
events which have taken place there, have no doubt been as- 
tonished at the wild aspect under which I have described that 
country ; they may perhaps be offended that I have not em- 
ployed colours more brilliant in pourtraying a people whose 
government and laws appear so far superior to the manners and 
customs I have attributed to them. Their surprise at this ap- 
parent contradiction will however cease, if they reflect upon the 
state of barbarism in which Switzerland was buried, when she 
shook off the yoke of Austria. If the Alps became the thea- 
tre of a democratic revolution, at a period when theirinhabitants 
could find no assistance from any of their neighbours, should 
it be more extraordinary that similar movements have burst 
forth in the Cordilleras, at a time when so many political wri- 
tings have been published and translated into all languages ! 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 437 

an insurrection is no proof of civilization, the least civilized 
nations are often the most greedy after liberty. It is well 
known that a small number of enlightened men place themselves 
at the head of every revolution ; the people are rarely the first 
instigators of it ; they are informed that it has taken place, and 
the principles which they should adopt, are pointed out to 
them at the very moment they are ignorant a change of govern- 
ment has been effected. Thus we have seen the chiefs of Ame- 
rican independence, raise the people at the name of Ferdinand 
VII ; had they declared their intentions openly at first, they 
never would have succeeded in carrying them into execution. 
It was doubtless the better to conceal them, and secure the 
triumph of the new opinions beyond the possibility of failure, that 
Bolivar, like an able politician, was not desirous of destroying 
at one blow the monarchical habits of his fellow citizens. For 
the orders of Ferdinand and of Charles III, he substituted those 
of the Liberators and Bocaya ; afterwards, to reconcile the 
rich to the abolition of the incomiendas, he promulgated in 
their favour, several decrees in terms not less advantageous 
than that which was made on the 12th of September 1819, for 
general Santander, vice-president of the republic ; the prin- 
cipal articles of which are as follows : 



Article i. 

" I grant in full title, and by way of extraordinary recom- 
pense to F. P. Santander, the house in this city (Bogota) 
which belonged to the emigrant Vincent Cordova, as well as 
the estate of Ato-Grande, belonging to Pierre Bufanda, in the 
jurisdiction of Zipaquira." 

Article ii. 

" It is understood that the said estate of Ato-Grande, made 
over, by the above article, to general Santander, ceases to 
be incumbered with a mortgage of 10,000 piastres, in favour 



43S 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



of Don Francisco Rodriguez. This debt of an enemy belongs, 
likewise, to the state, who disposes of it in favour of the new 
possessor of the estate of Ato-Grande, and makes him a present 
of it." 

I had at first thought that the contrast presented by these 
acts, and the manners and institutions of the people of 
Colombia, would not appear less worthy of credit than that 
which is offered by many other nations, a singular mixture of 
sages and barbarians, learned and ignorant ; for this reason 
I had abstained from quoting several documents which would 
have imparted a degree of authenticity to my account ; and con- 
cluded by fearing that some degree of malevolence might be 
attributed to me. Were this the case, the efforts which I have 
always made never to swerve from the truth, would be ill ap- 
preciated : to render this the more evident, I have determined 
to make public the account of an American, whose opinion 
cannot admit of suspicion ;* it will be seen if my opinion of Bo- 
gota is more severe than that which he has pronounced upon 
Quito, the first city in the Cordilleras, both for population and 
extent. 

" Quitof is the most populous town of the viceroyalty of 
M New Grenada; without adopting Ulloa's statement, who 
" makes its inhabitants amount to 60,000, we may estimate 
" the number to be from 35. to 40,000, almost all Indians or 
" half- whites. 

" The greater part of the houses are ill built with bricks 
" dried in the sun. The roofs are covered with the leaves of 
" the maguey or chaguarquero [agave Americana). The in- 
" terior of the habitations is extremely simple, the saloon for 
" receiving visitors being the only one which is ornamented : 
" this is the only room the walls of which are covered with 

* The travels of Caldas, MSS. 1805. This Americau, born at Bo- 
gota, distinguished himself by his taste for botany : he was shot in 1816, by 
order of the Spauish viceroy. 

f Quito communicates by the road of Malbucha with the port of Ca- 
rondelet, upou the Pacific Oceau. 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



439 



44 paper and ill executed paintings. A few lamps affixed to 
4 4 the walls, and a chandelier, dependent from the ceiling, 
44 serve to light the apartment. The floor is covered with 
" a carpet, the manufacture of the country ; some writing 
44 tables, and sofas covered with silk, complete the furniture ; 
" the bed forms the principal object ; it is in an alcove, the 
44 frame- work of which is sculptured, richly gilt, and 
44 hung with damask or velvet ; the bedstead is gilt, the sheets 
44 are of beautiful Holland cloth, and trimmed with lace ; the 
* 4 counterpane is of muslin ; during the day the curtains are 
44 undrawn, that the bed may be seen, for it is the principal 
44 object of the care and expense of the Quitonians. 

44 There is a hall at the entrance of the houses, but 
44 it is very dirty, being never cleaned ; the yards 
" serve for stables ; the clover for the horses [medicago 
44 sativa), is upon the stair-case; the corridors, the anti- 
44 chambers, the interior of the houses, and the kitchens, 
44 are all filthy, and exhale mephitic air. In almost every 
44 house is a boudoir for the ladies to retire to, it is called 
44 obrador, or work room. Nothing is of less utility at 
44 Quito than this room, for the ladies pass their whole life 
44 either in idleness, or in receiving and paying visits. The 
44 obrador is tolerably well furnished, though but little taste 
44 is apparent in the arrangement. On the roof is a terrace, 
44 where the ladies cultivate flowers ; here they come to warm 
44 themselves in the sun, and breathe the air, which is not 
44 always very agreeable, this being the place where the linen 
44 is dried, the dishes are washed, and other affairs still more 
44 domestic are transacted. 

44 The nobility and the middling classes inhabit the upper 
44 part of the house; the common people the ground floors. 
44 Each family has a floor to itself, which causes a frightful 
44 noise and confusion. 

44 The streets are badly paved, dirty and narrow ; 
44 fountains are rarely met with in the houses : there are 
44 only three in the city; the prison presents nothing re- 
44 markable ; the hospital is small and ill regulated ; but, in 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



return, the establishment appropriated to the poor and or- 
phans, is well kept, and distinguished by the order and 
economy which reigns throughout. It was intended to have 
established a workhouse, but, like many other projects, it 
was never carried into execution. Few public walks are 
found at Quito, the finest, formed by the president Villa 
Lengua, has been destroyed by his successor. 

44 Provisions are rather dear at Quito ; the beef, which 
is of a bad quality, is not always to be got ; mutton is still 
worse, because none but old sheep are killed. The milk is 
without cream ; the cheese is detestable, and as they never 
put any salt in it, it is almost always spoilt ; a great quantity 
is, however, consumed at Quito, it being eaten with soup, 
confectionary, and chocolate, in the morning and evening, 
in short, at all hours. 

44 Salt is procured from Guayaquil, the bay is preferred 
to the white. Sugar is dear and bad, it comes from Ybar- 
ra ; it is worth at least 20 piastres a quintal, and frequently 
rises as high as SO. The article which has the greatest sale, 
and which is furnished by the sugar mills of Ybarra, is ras- 
padura ; this is a kind of chicha ; the people drink it in 
4 large quantities. The cocoa comes from Guayaquil, but is 
c not equal to that of Timana and Magdalena. The confec- 
4 tionary made at Quito is tolerably good ; the potatoes are 
4 excellent, and form the principal food; the maize has but 
4 little flavour, this is caused by the great elevation of the 
4 country ; cabbages and lettuces are good ; when in season, 
4 there are pears, apples, different kinds of peaches, oranges, 
4 cedras, lemons, strawberries, mulberries, funas (cactus 
4 opuntiaj, aguaquates, guabas ( mimosa ingaj, papays, and 
4 melons ; bananas and plumbs are brought from the warm 
4 countries. 

44 The water at Quito is bad ; the bread, although well 
4 baked, is good for nothing, from the mixture of the meal 
4 of peas, lentils and oats. 

44 Shut up in its mountains, and not being able to obtain 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



44 the merchandize of Europe but at an enormous expense, 
44 Quito has been compelled to create several kinds of industry ; 
44 this city has, consequently, manufacturies, the produce of 
44 which, although coarse, are strong- and durable, and are in 
44 great request at Antioquia, Choco, Timana, Barbacoas, and 
44 Guayaquil ; this latter town makes its payments in cocoa, the 
44 others with the gold of their mines. 

44 The arts, like industry, from the want of models, are 
44 in their infancy ; sculpture, whose labours fill all the public 
44 buildings of Quito, is still barbarous ; the servile imitators 
44 of their predecessors, the genius-lacking Phidiasses of 
44 this city continually represent Saint Anthony of Padua with 
44 a child upon one arm, Saint Dominic with a dog at his feet, 
44 The angels with peacocks' tails. Painting follows the same 
44 track ; architecture is equally behind hand ; but lace-making 
44 is in a state of perfection. This is not the case with car- 
44 pentery, cabinet-making, and the trades of the goldsmiths 
46 and locksmiths. As to the tailors and shoe-makers, they 
44 are utterly devoid of taste. 

44 The same may be said of the religious houses at Quito 
44 as has been observed of all others, and of all establishments 
44 which are on the decline : the scandal of the intrigues which 
44 divide them, simony, the despotism of the conquerors over 
44 the vanquished, dissimulation, the base kindness of prelates 
44 for their friends, sensuality, profane expenses, are there 
44 openly displayed ; in short, every vice, in order to attain the 
44 situation of provincial father, a title which confers an au- 
44 thority truly absolute over the convent, together with the 
44 right of swallowing its revenues, and dissipating its property, 
44 dishonours the regular clergy of Quito. 

44 There are two colleges : the first is governed by the 
44 Dominicans ; vain disputes about words, little severity in 
44 labour or regulation, much recreation and affectation in 
44 dress, such is the discipline in this establishment of edu- 
44 cation. The college of Saint Louis is not better managed. 
44 A prodigious number of Doctors of every rank, and 



442 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



" condition, united under a rector chosen by themselves form 
" the University of Quito, with the exception of some who 
" have silently instructed themselves, the rest are in the utmost 
" ignorance ; for this reason an extreme indulgence is shown in 
" the examinations ; never is a refusal or reprimand received 
" at their hands ; the young students always answer in the 
" most satisfactory manner. The desire of these to become 
"doctors in their turn may easily be imagined ; it is for this 
" that Quito is the first country in the world which belies the 
" proverb, Non omnes doctor es. 

" Whether from the timidity natural to their sex, the re- 
" elusion in which they are kept, or from the superintendence of 
" the bishops, the victims of parental avarice, fraternal jea- 
" lousy, or conjugal despair, and often of an excessive love for 
" God, practise with more exactness than the monks, the virtues 
" of that religion to which they have devoted their lives. It is 
" true that some among them fall, and that even the austere 
" Order of Santa-Theresa has considerably relaxed its disci- 
" pline ; but at least there is none of those scandalous vices 
" which so often profane the convents of men ■ women some- 
" times have frailties, men oftentimes vices." 

From Quito, Caldas went first to Tarubamba, all the inns 
he met with were provided with bread, cheese, and chicha. 
He then traversed the following towns : 

Machake, in 0°. 25 7 . S. lat., contains 2,200 inhabitants, 
among whom are 800 Indians. The thermometer of Reaumur 
usually indicated in this village, 6°. above zero. 

Saquilisi, 0°. 50'. 10". S. lat. has camlet manufactories. 

Taquaco. On quitting this village a paramo of three or 
four leagues in extent is to be traversed before you reach Tigua. 
The country where this village is situated, is covered with flocks 
of sheep, whose wool is much esteemed. 

Taguolo, 0°. 53'. S. lat. produces sugar canes ; great quan- 
tities of confectionary are made there. 

Macuchimina is rich in mines ; the country is intersected 
by so many precipices and rivers, principally by the Yana, 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 443 

Yacu, and Pilalo, that the only mode of travelling is on the 
shoulders of the Indians. The forests of Macuchimana yield 
great quantities of Peruvian bark. 

Pilalo. This village contains 2,000 souls. The winds blow 
there with extreme violence in the months of July, August, and 
September. On quitting Pilalo, the traveller proceeds towards 
Hambato. The country traversed before arriving there is 
covered with sand thrown out from the volcanoes with which 
the country is filled. 

Hambato is a pretty village ; the streets are laid down 
by the line ; the houses are very agreeable, those which are at 
some distance from the centre of the village are surrounded 
with shrubberies of agavas, plumb, paar, peach, and other 
fruit trees, some cactus laden with cochineals increase the soli- 
dity of these hedges, and render them impenetrable. All these 
cottages isolated and hidden behind these screens of verdure 
and flowers, produce a delicious effect. The churches are of 
wood and of little height on account of the earthquakes. Ham- 
bato has more than once been destroyed by this terrible 
scourge. The numerous and happy population of this village 
is mostly composed of Indians. 

Upon quitting Hambato to go to Cuenca, the traveller 
crosses the bridge and village of Querro, the Paramo of Sabanag, 
the village of Ilapo, and the plain of Tapi ; in quitting the latter, 
he traverses the ruins of Riobamba. This village was de- 
stroyed on the 4th of February, 1797, by an earthquake. The 
inhabitants who escaped its ravages have endeavoured to found 
a new Riobamba in the plain of Tapi. This village rises slowly, 
as if menaced by the shocks of Chimborazo, Cuairazo, Tungue- 
ragna, and Altar, which surround it on all sides, it had to fear 
seeing itself again crushed beneath the flaming masses vomited 
by the Giants of the Andes. The ruins of the ancient Riobamba 
are to be rather imagined than actually traced. This unfortu- 
nate spot is so dear to some inhabitants, that they rather 
prefer being buried there, like their family, than to quit the 
remains of those they loved. Thus, the wretched huts one sees 



444 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



there are embellished, when considered as so many altars 
erected to friendship and patriotic love. 

After having passed over a country in which nothing was 
to be perceived but the traces of earthquakes, Caldas arrived 
at Guamote, situated in 1° 55* S. lat. " Here," says this tra- 
veller, " the two branches of the Cordilleras are easily dis- 
tinguished. That on the west is the least elevated. A large 
opening is to be seen worked by the hand of nature for the out- 
let of the waters. In the province of Las Emeralds s, it only 
takes place at Tuipulco, and in Maranon at Totorillos. The 
opening here mentioned is the deep bed of the riverof Guayaquil." 

A very severe cold is felt at Guamote. It is impossible, 
however, not to admire the situation, which is very agreeable, 
Guamote is surrounded by very high mountains ; the ground on 
which this village is built is an island bathed by two rivers, the 
banks of which are extremely fertile. Guamote only contains a 
small number of cottages built with reeds and a church. This 
village was, however, the centre of that terrible revolution 
which desolated these countries in 1803. The word excise, 
which these people do not understand, a few new taxes it was 
intended to impose, caused the insurrection to burst forth ; no 
other cause for this movement must be sought for ; none of the 
traits which mark the revolution of other countries are to be 
found in this. Recollecting the efforts which had been made to 
re-establish in this part of the province of Quito the duties of 
tobacco and brandy, the Indians feared that they would again 
endeavour to impose them upon them. A few imprudent words 
sufficed to arm them with sword and torch. Suddenly the ill 
suppressed hatred which they indulged against the half whites, 
was again roused in their hearts ; they animated each other to 
murder, and marked their steps with carnage. In fact, the In- 
dian, so cowardly when he is weak, becomes cruel, and im- 
placable when he is the stronger. When feared, he threatens, 
strikes, and kills ; he, whom a sword puts to flight when he is 
not stimulated either by hatred or revenge. 

This vast conspiracy, directed principally against the 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 445 

whites, and which was to have set all these mountains in 
a blaze, was prematurely executed by the inhabitants of 
Guamote. The other villages, who were to have taken a part 
in the revolt, were not ready to support it : it wholly failed. 
Some dreadful examples were made in order to intimidate the 
Indians ; Guamote was completely ruined. 

Continuing- to follow the Cuenca road, we meet with 
Puma-Chaca. Here commences the descent ; the villages and 
cultivation become more frequent. As is done at the Cape of 
Good Hope, horses are employed in thrashing the corn. 

Alausi is thenext town: it is in 2° S. lat. and contains 
5,500 inhabitants among whom are 2000 Indians. At Alausi com- 
mence those vast forests which extend as far as the Pacific. 
Puma-Chaca where the traveller stops, is at as high an ele- 
vation as Quito. From thence one enters the Asuay. This pa- 
ramo is composed of rocks. The most elevated parts border on 
the limits of vegetation. After having quitted Puma-Llacta 
at five o'clock in the morning, one continually ascends as far 
as Salanag ; this is a plateau at which one rests. Piches is the 
next town ; the air is here excessively cold. The ascent is gentle, 
although very long, as far as Litau ; it is here that, properly 
speaking, begins the paramo of Asuay, the tomb of a great 
number of travellers. When the wind blows there, it brings 
with it such a quantity of hail and snow that the air is darkened : 
the traveller up to his knees in water, is struck with cold, he feels 
his limbs grow stiff, and often looses the use of them if he has 
the good fortune to escape with life. On the Asuay is a pool 
of about 70 varas in length (180 feet) : the water of this pond 
is at 9° R. above zero. Further on, is another of 5 or 600 
varas long and from 2 to 300 wide. Near there commences 
the plain of Puyal, dangerous on account of the deep marshes 
there met with ; at the extremity of the Puyal are the ruins 
of a palace of the lncas, it is built of stone without cement: 
the Indians have evinced a very singular taste in the choice 
of the places where they have constructed their pleasure 



446 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



houses, since, during- eight months of the year, there is continued 
hail and rain here. 

After having passed Alto de la Virgen, Caldas entered 
Delek. This village is peopled with Indians ; the country 
assumes a more smiling aspect, the roads are better ; the 
population increases, every thing announces the approach to 
a town of importance : one is not deceived, one has arrived at 
Cuenca, situated in a plain of considerable extent, the elevation 
of which, above the level of the sea, is 1279 toises. 

The temperature of Cuenca is very agreeable, it rarely 
descends during the day below 12°, and never rises above 15° ; 
the nights are very cool, for the thermometer is often not more 
then 6. 

The sky is sometimes cloudy, but it rains less often than 
at Quito, and the storms last but a short time in the months 
of October and March. The rains, frequent during the equi- 
noxes, are rare during the solstice ; then the clouds evapo- 
rate, the sky assumes an azure blue ; this is the season of 
fine weather, with this difference however, that in the spring 
solstice there are four magnificent months, whilst in the win- 
ter solstice there are generally thirty days of rain. The 
ground on which Cuenca is built is flat, sandy and arid. The 
streets laid down by the line, are each 125 varas long (323 
feet) and 12 wide (31 feet); the greater part of them are 
paved. 

Cuenca is the only town which enjoys the advantage of 
being every where supplied with water. The houses are all 
constructed with unbaked bricks, without taste, extremely 
low, dirty, and without any ornament. Filth is a characteristic 
trait of the province of Quito. The churches are poor and 
ill decorated ; with the exception of the Jesuits' College, the 
town is without public edifices. The chapter of the Cathedral 
consists of a dean, an archdeacon, a penitentiary, a doctor 
and two deacons. The governor has a salary of 2,500 piastres. 
The population amounts to 19,000 souls, including 3000 Indians. 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



447 



There are convents of Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustines, 
Hospitaliers, Bethlemites, and Carmelites. There are two pa- 
rishes San-Bias and San-Sebastian : the convents are depen- 
dent on those of Quito. The absolute want of instruction and 
intelligence renders the clergy of this town far inferior to that 
of Quito. Tortoise shell is worked here with considerable taste; 
the arts of modeling in wax and sculpture in marble decline 
daily. 

The society of Cuenca is composed of three classes : 
the nobility, who pass their lives in idleness ; the citizens, 
who are devoted to commerce ; and the people who are enga- 
ged in the most laborious works, for the curate and chiefs 
overwhelm them (I speak of the Indians) with the most 
grievous burdens. 

Cuenca receives cotton and soap from Piura ; cocoa, rice, 
salt, fish, wine, oil, and European earthenware, from Guaya- 
quil ; and lastly from Quito, some coarse stuffs : in return it 
furnishes Loxa and Guayaquil with the grains and productions 
of the surrounding mountains. 

The valley of Paute is dependent on Cuenca ; it is seven 
leagues north-east of that town. Quicksilver mines have 
been discovered there. The mountains in the neighbourhood 
produce great quantities of Peruvian bark ; that which in the 
country is called pata de gallinazo is gathered at an elevation 
of 403 varas higher than that of Quito. 

San-Christoval, situated upon the Supay, Uccu and Qua- 
laceo, belong to the jurisdiction of Paute. In its environs are 
gathered cochineal and sugar ; gold mines are also worked, 
Guagual-Suma is a hill famous in this country, because it is 
suspected that the Indians continue to sacrifice their infants there 
to the manes of their Incas ; neither Christianity nor the vi- 
gilance of the Spaniards have been able to abolish this horri- 
ble custom. Without historians, without monuments, the In- 
dians have neither forgotten their ancient masters, nor their 
past misfortunes. 



448 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



NOTE XII. 

Observations upon the means of establishing- a communica- 
tion by water, between the gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific, 
by the river Atrato, which discharges itself into the gulf 
of Darien, and by the river San- Juan, which nearly communi- 
cates with the upper part of the Atrato, and falls into the Pa- 
cific Ocean, in the bay of Chirambira.* 

" The principal mouth of the Atrato, is called Barbacoas. 
" It is situated in 8° 12' north latitude. The length of this 
44 river is 480 miles, reckoning from its source. At its mouth, 
" commences the grand bay of Candelaria, capable of contain- 
44 ing all the fleets in the universe, having a good anchorage, 
44 of from 1 8 to 30 fathoms depth, sheltered against every wind, 
44 and only subject to a strong sea in the months when the 
" north- winds prevail. Its bar even in the dry season, and at 
44 low tide, has five feet water ; during the rainy season, and 
44 hig-h tides, six feet and a half, extending about 200 yards 
" with a hard sand bottom. 

44 The first river of any size which discharges itself into 
" the Atrato, is called Rio-Sucio, and is in latitude 7° 46' 
" north. In its present state, it is not navigable, on account 
" of the trees and rocks, which obstruct its progress. u 

44 The second is the Mariendo. This river is in 7° 6' 
44 north latitude. Twenty miles beyond its junction with the 
44 Atrato are seen some very lofty mountains which bear the 
44 same name ; they abound in many species of valuable woods. 

44 The third, is the Napipi, which falls into the Atrato, 
4 in latitude 6° 33' north. By means of this river, an easy 
4 communication might be opened with the Pacific Ocean, which 
4 is only at the distance of six miles from the source of the 
4 Napipi. From the source of the Napipi to the inn built 
4 above the river of Don Carlos, is reckoned a three days' 
4 journey, about 100 miles; from this point to the inn at 
4 Antado, six hours or 18 miles. From thence is a journey 
4 over land as far as thebayof Cupica, in the Pacific Ocean, this 

* The author of this interesting but anonymous essay is an Englishman. 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



449 



'* takes-one day's travelling. The journey is performed on 
" mules, or on the backs of men. The port of Cupica is ex- 
s< cellentfor every kind of vessels. 

" The fourth river which discharges itself into the Atra- 
to, is the Bevara; it is in latitude 6° 2' north. Fifteen 
" miles beyond its embouchure is a warehouse (bodega), serv- 
" ing as a depot for the merchandises destined for Antioquia. 
" From this warehouse to Verras, is a land journey of sixty 
"miles. It is generally performed on the backs of men, and 
" usually takes seven days to accomplish it ; the price of a 
" load, of 125 pounds, is 12 piastres. 

" On the road from Verras to Antioquia (forty miles), 
" mules are used • each mule costs four piastres. 

" The capital of the province of Choco is, San Francisco 
" de Luibdo or Citara, situated at a distance of 400 miles from 
" the sea ; it has but one church and a custom house ; its po- 
" pulation does not amount to a thousand inhabitants. 

"As far as Citara, the Atrato presents but few obstacles 
" to vessels which do not draw more than seven feet water. 
" Its course is equally clear of rocks and trunks of trees. The 
" stream of the Atrato in the dry season, runs two miles per 
" hour, and five in the rainy season. The source of this river 
" is forty-eight miles beyond Citara. 

" Opposite this town the Quito mingles itself with the 
Atrato ; it is by this river that the inhabitants reach the 
raviue of San Pablo ; in the dry season, it presents some diffi- 
culties on account of the little depth. This obstacle may easily 
be removed by means of sluices and other machines known in 
Europe ; besides the ravine of San Pablo, is only two miles 
wide. 



NOTE XIII. 

The territory, in the province of Antioquia, in which are si- 
tuated the towns of Remedios, Saragosa, Caceres, Caucan, 

2 G 



450 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Yalomba, and San-Bartholonie, the extent of which may be 
about fifty leagues, only contains 6,303, inhabitants. 

Restrepo, Essay, &c. 



NOTE XIV. 

Words in the Language of the Indians of Choco : 

Copdour chief 

Ouenmehor man-eater 

Decoupera woman 

Hemeora man. 

Babkoukena white. 

Gaouna indian. 

Ningour black. 

Ourima capun come here. 

Carpemara how much. 

Amba one. 

Noutni two. 

Canoupa three. 

Aiapa four. 

Conambo five. 

Andkinanamba six. 



NOTE XV. 

The Colombians are even little flattered at comparisons 
being drawn between them and the Europeans, they are espe- 
cially very jealous of the talents of their generals. There are 
many persons in Colombia, who consider Bolivar as a warrior 
far superior to Bonaparte. Very few indeed of our learned men 
appear to them of a merit above that of Mutis, Caldas, and Zea. 
Vasques their painter, and Mosquera the first orator of their 
chamber of deputies, are men whose ability in their opinion 
is not at all eclipsed by that of the finest genuises of Europe. 
There is no exaggeration in this, as these opinions are almost 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



451 



general. If a few persons suppress them before strangers, 
their silence must be attributed to their excessive modesty. It 
is useless to say that they think but little of European soldiers ; 
their own victories over the Spanish troops may confirm them in 
their contempt for the troops of our continent. 

These and similar sentiments will not excite surprise when it 
is known, that many Colombians add to the pride so peculiar to 
Spaniards, a very slight acquaintance with Europe ; it is there- 
fore natural that they should only admire such of their country- 
men whose merit has shown forth with some eclat. This, in 
other respects, is a proof that they already possess a character 
truly national. Besides they candidly acknowledge a literary 
superiority in Europe, which will certainly inspire them with a 
wish to emulate it. 



NOTE XVI. 

The pictures painted in Europe before Raphael appeared, 
may give some idea of those which are now produced in Co- 
lombia ; the design is incorrect, the figures want expression ; 
not the least idea of perspective is to be found , and in general 
no traces of imagination. 

If in eloquence and poetry, the Americans cannot yet 
pretend to surpass the Spaniards,* their compositions are at 
least free from the trash which prevents the French writers who 
preceded the reign of Louis XIV. from being read. Far from 
resembling the preachers of that period, their priests introduce 
much gravity and fervour in their sermons. With respect to 
literature, the better sort of people in America has been less 

* The best poet of the republie is a Spanish priest. I need not 
observe that whenever distinguished persons are spoken of, it is the 
principal inhabitants of Caracas, Bogota, Quito and Guayaquil only who 
are designated ; since in the country a very corrupt Spanish is spoken, 
and even the greater part of the Indian tribes do not understand it, but 
speak each a different dialect. 

2 g 2 



452 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



stationary than in the arts and sciences. The orators in the 
chambers have rarely any dignity in their speeches, or any of 
those touches which determine the resolution of an assembly. 
Opportunities of producing a great effect are not however, 
wanting, since the chamber is already divided into valley and 
mountain, (valle e montana) , But the parliamentary language 
is not yet formed \ a member cannot be animated without falling 
immediately into a passion ; I have even seen some represen- 
tative weep with rage. There are some members who speak 
very well impromptu. The vice president of he chamber of 
representatives, a priest on the opposition side, has even been 
very eloquent in a discussion respecting the patronage claimed 
by government, but which it renounced for a time, for fear of 
raising the clergy against them. 



NOTE XVII. 

Analysis of some minerals of Colombia, by Mr. Berthier, 
Professsor at the Royal College of the mines. Cop- 
per mineral of Moniquira. 

It is a mixture of pyritous copper, of grey copper, of black 
oxide copper, and carbonate green copper. It is very rich in 
copper, but contains a very small quantity of silver. The 
grey copper might be worked with great advantage, but the 
copper it would produce would be impure and difficult to re- 
line. It is no doubt, for this reason, that the Indians only 
melt down pyritous copper. It appears that the process they 
pursue is much the same as that of Europe, for their Scoria 
are chiefly composed of silex and oxide of iron like ours ; they 
obtain besides but a very small quantity of copper. 

Mineral of lead ofSogajnoso. It is of carbonated lead, mix- 
ed with some particles of plumbago, and scattered among quartz. 
A similar kind is found in Europe. Only one trace of silver 
is to be found in it. 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



453 



Mineral of iron in the neighbourhood of la Plata. It is of 
oxidulated magnetic iron, quite pure and free from gangue. It 
contains nothing foreign, not even the least trace of tetane. 



NOTE XVIII. 

In 1806, and 1807, 3,499,489 piastres were issued from the 
mint of Santa- Fe. The mining system had doubtless then ex- 
perienced some improvements, for, from 1789, to 1795, they had 
not struck at Santa-Fe more then 8,161,8620, piastres and at 
Popayan from 1788, to 1794, 6,502,5420 piastres*. In general, 
the prosperous years in America have been those of the commen- 
cement of the XlXth century, this was the period when the con- 
tinent received from the European peninsula several useful pri- 
vileges, and in which the Spanish government, forgetting its 
rigid political maxims, allowed the introduction of books, &c. 
and the publication of some newspapers. It is well known how 
much these publications enlightened the American colonies in 
a short space of time, and promoted their emancipation. 



NOTE XIX. 

The cubical rock salt of Zipaquira is greyish, and coloured by a 
bitumenous clay. It is exactly like the rock salts of Europe. 

Berthier* 



NOTE XX. 

M. D. Humboldt in his work upon Mexicof estimates the 
importations into the united provinces of New Grenada and Ca- 

* Humboldt Essai Politique, Chap. XI p. 201. 

f Essai sur la Nouvelle Espagne, Chap. xiii. p. 472. 



454 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 

racas, at 11,200,000 piastres, and the exportations, either in 
agricultural produce, or metals, 9,000,000. The author, Pom- 
bo, whom I have already had occasion to quote, has valued the 
exportations of New Grenada at 2,500,000 piastres only ; he 
thus divides them : 

Piastres. 

Exportation in agricultural produce, pearls, 

platina, by the Atlantic 600,000 
In gold and silver bars 1,350,000 
In produce by Panama and Guayaquil 550,000 

2,500,000 



According to the same author the importations do not exceed 
2,500,000 piastres. 

Senor Jove, one of the most enlightened members of the 
ancient consulate of Caracas, gave, in a memoir sent in 1817 
to the viceroy Samanon, the following estimate of the commerce 
of Colombia : 

An Approximate estimate of the Exportations of the Pro- 
vinces of Venezuela, during the six years anterior to 
1810. 



Yearly 




Pias. Reals 


Piastres. 


100,000 fanegas of cocoa, 


of uolb 


® 20 


2,000,000 


100,000 quintals of coffee 




12 


1,200,000 


150,0001b of indigo 




1 2 


187,500 


53,000 quintals of cotton 




15 


75,000 


200,000 ox's hides 




1 


200,000 


10,000 mules and horses 




32 


320,000 


200,000 small hides 




2 


50,000 


2,000 quintals of copper. 


from Guyana 


24 


48,000 


10,000 quintals of Varinas tobacco 


20 


200,000 


Other goods 






119,500 








4,400,000 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 455 

The balance of commerce and agriculture being 1,000,000 
in favour of this one. 

In 1809, the state of the commerce at Guayra and Cartha- 
gena was published in the Semanario.* The informations there 
given are certainly not new, but they are interesting and even 
useful, because the articles now fit for exportation are the same 
at the present day as in the time of the Spaniards. Besides, 
documents of every kind are very scarce at present ; the jour- 
nals, the memoirs of the viceroys, in which such valuables ma- 
terials for American statistics were to be found, have all been 
carried off or burnt ; the members of government are them- 
selves in a great degree ignorant of the details of administra- 
tion. It is therefore difficult to procure sure guides in order to 
know well the financial and commercial situation of the coun- 
try, and the greatest difficulty of all is to make the contradic- 
tory statements to agree, for, in the midst of party rage, some 
exaggerate, and others depreciate the resources of govern- 
ment. 

General state of the Commerce of Guayra in the first six 
months q/1809. 

Importations from Spain. Piastres 
In Spanish merchandize £15,424 
Foreign ditto 58,780 



Importations from America. 

Havannah sugar arrobas 3,173 6,347 

Cuba wax 773 7,730 

Sacks from Mexico 5,520 1,380 

Piastres 96,500 

Other productions from America 26,202 

Europe 16,181 

other countries 4,6 16 



274,204 — 274,204 



158,936—158,936 

* No. 45. The confusion in the Spanish original obliged me to make 
some changes in the sums of the different additions, and to omit the table 
of exportation. 



456 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Brought oyer 433,140 

Importations from Europe. Piastres 

Woollen stuffs 13,369 

Linen ditto 60,333 
Cotton ditto 325,242 

Woollen hats 6,281 9,489 

Silk ditto 2,262 12,466 

Silks 15,568 

Flour-barrels 5,798 57,983 

Hard- ware 36,414 

Provisions 34,674 

Wine in casks arrobas 4,025 9,725 

Wine in bottles dozens 2,414 4,504 

Gold and silver specie 32,330 

Different articles 11,838 



623,935—623,935 



Total of Importations 1,057,075 



Annual Exportations of New Grenada prior to 1810. 

Piastres RIs. Piastres. 

1 0,000 fanegas of cocoa brought from the 

vallies of Cucuta ® 20 200,000 

6,000 quintals of coffee 10 60,000 

6,000 quintals of cotton 15 90,000 
12,000 load of coloured wood, of 250115 

from Rio-Hacha 7 84,000 
3,000 ditto from Santa-Martha 5 15,000 
30,000 quintals of cotton from Carthagena 20 600,000 
20,000 quintals of coloured wood 6 15,000 
100,000 loads of cocoa (75fb) from Guaya- 
quil 6 600,000 
10,000 loads (250lb) of Loxa bark io 100,000 
20,000 ditto from Carthagena 6 120,000 



carried over 1,884, 000 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 457 

Piastres Rls. Piastres. 

Brought over 1,884,000 

6,000lfc of platina from Choco* 6 36,000 

Sundry producef 80,000 

2,000,000 

Metals 2,000,000 

4,000,000 



Revenues of New Grenada before 1810. 





Piastres 


Custom house duties 


600,000 


Alcabala 


100,000 


Farming- of tobacco 


300,000 


400,000 bulls* 


100,000 


Stamps 
The mints 


150,000 
150,000 


Indian tributes 


50,000 


Licences 


100,000 



1,550,000 



Thus, according to the opinion of Senor Jove, the reve- 
nues of New Grenada never amounted, prior to 1810, beyond 
1 ,550,000 piastres ; although this estimate appears to me far 
too small, yet, in speaking of the finances of Colombia, I have 

* Now, that the exportation of this mineral is prohibited, it is not 
worth more than from 3 to 4 piastres per lb, and the same quantity is 
exported as formerly. 

f Under this denomination is comprehended the sarsaparilla (2 reals 
per load) cocoa butter, vanilla, vigon, and varnish of Peru, the price of 
which is from 8 to 10 reals per lb, and the quality of which, in abler hands, 
might be made to equal that of the varnish of China. 

J The government of Colombia has forbidden the sale of bulls till the 
pope detei'mine to acknowledge the republic. 



458 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



only valued them at 5 or 6,000,000 piastres, because, if the 
sale of national property, and the obligation imposed upon the 
clergy of contributing 1 , like the rest of the nation to the ex- 
penses of the state, have augmented the riches of the govern- 
ment ; on the other hand, the disasters incidental to a fourteen 
years' war have ruined a number of resources which Spain for- 
merly possessed. 

We shall conclude these investigations by comparing the 
relative importance of the Colombian and Mexican commerce. 



Balance of the Carthagena Trade. 

Importations from Spain. Exportation for Spain. 
Years 1802 983,885 piastres. 3,082,819 — 2 

1803 971,863 1,554,385—1 

1804 903,644 2,468,578 — 7 



2,859,392 7,105,783 — 2 
On this amount should be estimated in") 
produce J 

Money 4,752,232 



Balance of the Trade of Vera Cruz, during the same Years. 

Importations from Spain. Importations from America. 
20,390,859 1,607,729 
18,493,289 1,373,428 
14,906,060 1,619,682 



53,790,208 4,600,839 
4,600,839 



58,391,047 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



459 



„ - „ . Exportations for the Ports 

Exportation* for Spain. * of America 

33,866,219 4,581,148 

12,017,072 2,465,846 

18,033,371 3,424,511 



63,916,662 10,471,505 
10,471,505 



74,388,167 



Although the ancient vice royalties of Mexico and New 
Grenada are both favoured by nature, equally fertile and rich in 
metals, agriculture abandoned in Colombia to the care of the 
negroes, and the working of the mines being directed by con- 
summate ignorance, are the causes of the prodigious contrast 
presented by two countries governed now in precisely the same 
manner, of an extent almost equal, and whose population only 
differs by the half. 



NOTE XXI. 

The greater part of the Spanish colonies, with the excep- 
tion of the maritime towns and the capital cities, frequented by 
strangers, are scarcely more enlightened, with reference to arts 
and industry, than Europe was in the time of Ferdinand and 
Isabella. They present a living picture of the fifteenth cen- 
tury ; the traits of this age are again recognized in the manners, 
habits, and customs of the inhabitants ; the national costume 
recalls that distant period to the memory ; industry is as rude 
as it was in those days. I have, however, mentioned some edi- 
fices which display taste and a remarkable ability ; these 
deserve the greater attention, as it is almost impossible to con- 
ceive the labour they cost. In 1814, when building the ca- 
thedral of Santa-Fe, the architect was first obliged to instruct 
some young people in the mode of cutting stones, afterwards in 
the method of making a great number of tools and machines till 



460 



NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



then unknown. The paving of the streets required equal time 
and labour, for the workmen only used iron pincers about a 
foot long, had bags instead of wheelbarrows, and bits of leather 
for shovels. It is the same in every other kind of work ; the 
most simple tools are either not to be had, or are ill made, and, 
consequently, insufficient to perfect works truly beautiful. 



NOTE XXII. 



The importations of the English into the whole of America 
amount annually to £10,476,791 sterling. 



THE END. 



LONDON : 
PRINTED BY G. SCHULZE, 
13, POLAND STREET. 




V 




71 

I 
! 



